Vice-President Bharrat Jagdeo’s recent assertion that public servants are earning $100 billion more today than in 2020 is the latest in a long string of proclamations from the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government to burnish its image that it has been kind to the working class. And while the figures may look impressive on paper, the reality for many Guyanese workers is far more complicated.
APNU+AFC Govt paid more in four years than PPP in five years
Inflation and the skyrocketing cost of living continue to eat away at wage increases, and when compared to the compound 77% pay raise given by the A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) government over four years, the PPP’s 45% increase over a longer period- five years- hardly represents a true improvement.
Jagdeo boasted that public servants have seen a 31.5% wage increase since 2020, with annual boosts ranging from 6.5% to 10%, along with a variety of incentives for education and years of service. On paper, this seems like a substantial increase, especially when broken down across the different sectors—teachers, healthcare workers, and sugar workers all receiving wage hikes.
The government boast that health sector alone has seen increases, such as a 52% rise for nurses and 75% for midwives. Teachers, too, have been promised a 57% increase by 2026, as part of an agreement struck between the PPP/C and the Guyana Teachers Union. However, these increases are not across the board but specific to qualifications, years of service, training and location of work. Last year the Union won its case against the government to ensure teachers’ right to collective bargaining.
Public servants still struggling to keep up with the high cost of living
Yet, despite these figures, many public servants are still struggling to keep up with the high cost of living in Guyana. Inflation, which has consistently been in double digits since the country began benefiting from its oil wealth, continues to erode the purchasing power of salaries. For many workers, the increase in their salaries is wiped out by the rising cost of food, transportation, and housing.
According to Ganga Persad Ramdas Retired Professor, Lincoln University and former Division Chief, Bank of Guyana, the country’s Consumer Price Index for January 2023 was 130.7%, ending at 132.4% in December 2023, an increase of 1.7%. Stories of the soaring cost of living is weekly told in a Stabroek News’ column “How the cost of living is affecting people”
A direct comparison to the wage increases provided by the previous APNU+AFC government underscores the shortfall. Between 2015 and 2019, the APNU+AFC administration provided public servants with a cumulative 77% wage increase, far surpassing the cumulative 45% provided by the PPP/C government from 2021 to 2025. The table below, provided by the government, represents the across the board salary increases for public servants from 2021 to 2025.
Jagdeo’s comparison of the current government’s wage increases to the opposition’s record from 2015-2020 may be politically motivated, but it also reveals a sobering truth: Guyanese public servants have received less pay increases under successive PPP governments and are not necessarily better off now than they were in 2019, despite the country’s burgeoning oil economy. Guyana is ranked the world’s fastest growing economy and richest economy per capita.
Oil boom made some individuals and corporations richer, done little for public servants
While the oil boom has made some of the wealthiest individuals and corporations in Guyana richer, it has done little to shield public sector workers from the economic realities that continue to weigh them down. The promise of a “bright future” for all has not materialised for everyone, especially for those struggling to make ends meet.
Moreover, Jagdeo’s claim that public servants are collectively earning $100 billion more today than in 2020 glosses over the fact that the lion’s share of the country’s newfound wealth has been concentrated in the hands of a few, rather than distributed equitably among the population. The government’s economic attitude towards public servants is not a panacea for the broader structural issues facing the economy.
For the average public servant, the wage increases under the Irfaan Ali’s government falls short in providing real financial security. The wage hikes are not keeping up with the accelerating cost of living. Inflation continues to erode what should be disposable income, and while some workers have seen substantial raises in their specific sectors, these gains are not necessarily universal.
The PPP/C may continue to tout its success in providing wage increases, but the reality on the ground for public servants paints a very different picture. In 2019, before the oil wealth began to flow, many workers were already struggling to get by. Today, while they may technically be earning more, the gap between their earnings and the cost of living has only widened. The government is yet to address this growing discontent.
Public servants may be receiving more money in their pay cheques, but if the cost of living continues to outpace those increases, their financial situation will only become more precarious. The true test of any government’s success is not just in the size of wage increases, but in the ability to ensure that those increases translate into real, lasting improvements in the quality of life for the average citizen.
