Civil servants must deliver as Govt spends about $1.3B annually on salaries – Prof. Prasad

Civil servants must deliver services to the people, as any delay in spending directly affects development and it shouldn’t happen as the government spends about $1.2 to $1.3 billion annually on civil service salaries and wages.

Civil servants will receive a 3 percent salary increase, effective from 1st August this year as announced in the 2025/2026 National Budget.

While speaking during fijivillage Straight Talk with Vijay Narayan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Professor Biman Prasad highlighted that the government is happy to have delivered the pay rise, acknowledging that the last increase was in 2017 when they came into office.

He says in last year's budget they provided a salary increase in wages and salaries for government workers in the range of 7 to 20 percent.

Professor Prasad says this means within a year from August 1st, 2024 to August 1st, 2025, civil servants will receive a pay raise of between 10 to 23 percent.

He further says they want to ensure that civil servants are paid well.

The Deputy Prime Minister adds that the Public Service Commission with the support of the Australian government is looking at a number of issues within the civil service including performance management.

You can watch the full Straight Talk video on our website, fijivillage.