This Will Take A Toll On The Budget: Ken Ofori Atta On 30% Salary Increment

Ken Ofori-Atta, the finance minister, has congratulated labor unions for working with the government to reach an agreement on the 30% pay increase for public sector employees.

He claimed that the government wanted to maintain harmony on the labor front, therefore the 30% raise.

In a meeting with labor unions on Thursday, January 12, Minister of Employment and Labor Relations Ignatius Baffour-Awuah announced the raise.

And as a matter of fact, the raise becomes effective on January 1, 2023.

In light of this, Mr. Baffuor-Awuah asserted, “Since August last year,  we started meeting to determine the base pay for 2023.

“This was after in July, we had worked together to grant a COLA of 15 percent, being a relief for hardships that the Ghanaian worker was enduring. It was our hope to have completed this negotiation by December 2022,” he added.

Meanwhile, Mr. Baffuor continued, iterating:

 “Unfortunately, we were not able to finish but thankfully, today, we have worked together to come to a conclusion. “I am happy to announce the outcome of our engagements. The base pay has been increased by 30% for the 2023 financial year.

“The effective date is 1st January 2023. As I said this brings to an end the 2022 COLA of 15% of base pay salary,” he concluded. After the announcement, Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta addressed the crowd and said, “As I mentioned, this will take a toll on the budget. However, we are confident that we would increase productivity and the commitment that we both have made to ensure that there is peace in this country as we look at pension and labor issues.”

“I believe we have reached a satisfactory conclusion. I really will like to thank all of you for your commitment to that.,” he added.

Moreover, the finance minister emphasized that:

” Of course, we will have to work with that but really, the issue of a peaceful environment for us to work is something that we treasure, we really applaud you for that.

“There are a lot of things that we have to do and we really encourage that we continue with this sense of unity going forward and if, as a people, we continue to speak the same language then there will be nothing that will be impossible for us to do,” he pointed out.

Conclusion

Stay tuned for more interesting news updates.

READ ALSO:  Ghana Gas Reduced Costs By US$207 Million In 5 Years: CEO Reveals