Wage bill continues to swell

According to the Budget Strategy Paper (BSP) for the 2015/16 fiscal years, expenditure and net lending amounted to P49.3 billion in 2014 up from P42 billion in the previous year due to the increase in recurrent spending from P33.0 billion in 2013/14 to P37.2 billion in 2014/15.

The BSP further stated that the rise was largely due to increase in personal emoluments despite minimal formal salary increases and restrictions on hiring and creation of new posts. According to the BSP, the continued increase in the wage bill is largely because of creation of new posts to cater for completed projects, formation of new parastatals, as well as catering for security services.