Labour Consultant Austin Gamey has cautioned that the government’s recent approval of a 10% salary increase for public sector workers is excessive and could worsen inflationary pressures.
his remarks follow the government’s announcement of the wage hike, which came after successful negotiations between the Labour Union and President John Dramani Mahama, who personally engaged union leaders to secure their backing for the adjustment.
this marks the second pay rise in less than a year, following a 23% increase in 2024 aimed at easing the burden of the rising cost of living.
speaking to Citi News, Mr Gamey stressed that salary increments should ideally be linked to productivity, a system Ghana has yet to fully implement.
“the issue is base pay—it should normally be based on productivity, but we are yet to get there as a nation. we are not fully practicing the performance management system in Ghana,” he noted.
according to him, the private sector responds better to such mechanisms than the public sector.
although he acknowledged that the 10% increase is fair under the circumstances, he would have preferred a different approach.
“i would have preferred it lower. even a 1% adjustment in public sector wages pushes the economy into a higher inflationary bracket, which ultimately affects all of us, including the beneficiaries,” he warned.
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