Finance Minister Colm Imbert in Parliament in 2019. File photo -
Government would face an astronomical cost if it agreed to significant wage increases in the public sector that it could not afford, Finance Minister Colm Imbert said on Tuesday.
Imbert, laying out the figures to the Senate, explained Government, through the Chief Personnel Officer (CPO), was on course in early 2020 to negotiate allowances, but the plan was set back by the covid19 pandemic. And the combined impact with the budget shortfall of an estimated $16 billion meant there would be consequences if negotiations were settled too high.
Imbert was responding to a question posed by Opposition Senator Wade Mark on public-sector negotiations.