Government incurs further debt; pays public servants full April salary in cash- Nicole McDonald

The government’s Senior Communications Officer Nicole McDonald has announced that all public servants were paid their salaries in full for the month of April, today. In a statement on Timothy Poleon’s Newsspin programme, McDonald said that full cash payments were paid, and that the government continues to dialogue with trade unions.

She said that at no time did the government propose any form of pay cuts and that the collective agreement with public servants will be honored. What was proposed, the Communications Officer said, was paying public officers part in cash and part in bonds or treasury bills, for a three-month period. This is due to the fact that the government must conserve cash at this time in order to meet various commitments, or face “dire consequences” in the long term.

McDonald noted that the shutting down of the borders, the partial scale down, and costs associated with the global pandemic has severely affected government revenue. “Just to explain,” she said, “in order for the government to make the payment of salaries in all cash in April, the government was forced to increase its overdraft and incur further debt. The ministry of finance is currently dealing with compounding issues: extremely low revenue intake, significantly high debt repayments and additional financial resources, which needed to be allocated to managing COVID-19.”

She continued: “Hence the proposal of a blended payment to public servants of part cash and part treasury bills. The government is still hopeful and dialogue will continue in order to gain the support of the unions and the public service on the sacrifices that have to be made by us all in order for Saint Lucia to survive this crisis.”

McDonald said that Prime Minister Allen Chastanet will address the nation on the impact on the economy of making the salary payment.