“Facts every Sri Lankan should know. The biggest drain on the government is the large public sector. It costs around Rs 1,700 billion a year for salaries and pensions alone.
Even if the state sector is reduced by just 25%, that will save the government around over Rs 400 billion a year.
Rs 400 billion is equal to the cost of 3 Katunayake-Colombo Expressways.
Rs 400 billion is equal to the cost of almost 5 Mattale airports.
Rs 400 billion can be used to build a few universities every year in Sri Lanka. Only 1 in 10 Sri Lankan school students can get a spot in a Sri Lankan university due to lack of universities.
Rs 400 billion is almost the total personal income tax collection for 2023. Which means a reduction of the state sector by just 25%, can even help remove the personal income tax totally for the people.
Rs 400 billion is 3 times the total social security budget of the Sri Lankan government. If we save Rs 400 billion a year, we can more than triple Aswesuma/Samurdi payments for the poor.
This is the opportunity cost of a large state sector. In 2005, the state sector employees was only 700,000 people and now it’s around 1.5 million, though our population has barely increased since 2005.
Because the state sector is so large, the senior government officials are not getting paid properly which means the brightest people choose to work in the private sector or go abroad. I believe the state sector should be reduced in size as most jobs at the lower end results in wastage. A smaller but higher paid state sector is needed. Especially the senior state employees should be paid higher.
It’s good to know that the Senior Presidential Advisor to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has stated that Sri Lanka needs to cut down on the size of the state sector. It’s the elephant in the room and good to know that the new NPP government is addressing this key reform.”
From X post of Talal Rafi @talalrafi7