August 02, Colombo (LNW): Finance State Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya has announced that public service pensioners will receive an extra Rs. 3,000 allowance, increasing the total interim allowance to Rs. 5,500 starting in September.
Following presidential directives, an expert committee led by U. R. Senevirathne was established to tackle salary disparities among public servants.
Minister Siyambalapitiya noted that this interim allowance will be in effect until the new salary structure is introduced in 2025.
The State Minister highlighted that the government will spend an additional Rs. 8.4 billion in 2024 to provide this allowance to approximately 700,000 retirees.
Despite the challenges of managing the state budget, this interim allowance has been introduced as a swift solution to support retired government employees facing financial difficulties.