The government spends approximately $1.2 billion annually on about 42,000 publicly-funded employees, according to Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Professor Biman Prasad.
While presenting the 2024-2025 Budget, he announced that the State would collaborate with the Australian Government to conduct a comprehensive review of the civil service’s structure and salary system across public entities.
Prof. Prasad emphasized the urgent need to balance the salaries of publicly funded employees and adjust the size of the workforce. He attributed the significant increase in civil servant numbers to prior civil service reforms and the 2013 constitutional changes that shifted central oversight from the Public Service Commission to individual Permanent Secretaries.
“Today, we have more than 42,000 publicly funded employees, including around 38,000 in the civil service and nearly 4,000 in independent institutions and state-funded entities. This incurs a significant cost of around $1.2 billion,” said the Deputy Prime Minister.