Coming salary increase will cap 75 % increase in four years
– Min. Jordan tells Kwakwani residents
DPI, Guyana, Friday, November, 10 2019
The Coalition Government’s unmatched record of salary increases continues to climb, with even more assurances of further growth.
Minister of Finance, Hon. Winston Jordan today said that the increases to public servants’ salaries this year, will take the overall increase to an all-time high of 75% – a record unheard of under any previous administration.
He made this proclamation during a meeting with residents of Kwakwani Upper Demerara-Berbice, where he spoke about the overwhelming success of the Coalition over the last four years, among other topics.
Late last week, the Finance Minister announced that public servants will receive increases to their salaries that will be retroactive to January 1 of this year. He is expected to provide details of the salary hike this week.
Since coming to office in 2015, the Coalition has been substantially increasing salaries for public servants. Between 2015, and this year, the total increase stands at some 64.2%. The increase for this year will drive it up by over 11%.
“Look at the space of time. We started increasing salaries from the 1st of July 2015. And the last increase was retroactive to January 1, 2018. In two and a half years, we would have increased salaries by over 64%. By the time we are finished with salaries for this year, I can guarantee you that between July 1, 2015, and January 1, 2019, it will be over 75% increase,” the minister told residents.
According to Minister Jordan, all of this was done while giving back to Guyanese, taxes that were previously taken out of their contribution to the National Insurance Scheme (NIS).
“It is this government that removed that so that you could get whatever was taken out from your salary to take home.”
It is the Coalition Government that has also increased the personal allowance. Before 2015, public servants’ personal allowance stood at $50,000. This means that if someone’s salary was $60,000, $50,000 remained the personal allowance, while the remaining $10,000 was taxed at 30%.
“If you were working for $100,000, then still $50,000 remained your personal allowance, and you had to pay tax on the $50,000. And if you were working for $500,000, only $50,000 you were being allowed, and you would have had to pay tax on $450,000. We changed all of that,” he proclaimed.
Under the Coalition Government, the marginal tax rate was reduced from 33 to 28%. The administration was able to do all that and more while paying off loans lefts by the previous administration, and bailing out the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), among others.