No funds allocated for public sector salary hike; President refutes RW’s claims

By Ajith Siriwardana
Refuting claims made by former President Ranil Wickremesinghe that his government had allocated funds required to increase public sector salaries, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said yesterday no such funds had been allocated.
Speaking at an election rally in Puttalam, he said funds are usually allocated through the budget or Vote on Accounts presented in Parliament to allocate additional funds for various expenditure heads.  
The President said the decision to increase public sector salaries was taken in a haste just before the postal voting for the last presidential election.  
“The Cabinet decision to increase public sector salaries was taken on September 3 just before the postal voting on September 4, 5 and 6. No funds had been allocated,” he said.  
President Dissanayake said however, the government has decided to allocate funds through the budget 2025 to increase public sector salaries.  
“If he is defeated, he should stay at home without creating issues. He is making various attempts to capture power again by creating some kind of issue or lie,” he said.  
Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe said recently that the legal Cabinet decision taken by him as Finance Minister to increase the salaries of public servants should be implemented immediately and that if the salary increase is not given, then the government should immediately reveal where the money allocated for it is.