Centeno acknowledges that 10 thousand public administration staff will not leave after all
The minister of Finance has acknowledged this Wednesday the reduction in the number of public administration staff throughout 2016 fell short of the 10 thousand goal initially defined.
This Wednesday, the minister of Finance has acknowledged the government will not be able to comply with the 10 thousand employees’ reduction inscribed in the 2016 State Budget.
During a parliamentary hearing about the following State Budget, Mário Centeno has explained the number of retirements has fallen behind the initial expectations: “From an estimated 20 thousand, we got to 15 thousand and the last data shows six thousand retirements and few public sector employees, where this rule [2 for 1] would apply”, the minister stated, and also explained this rule must be understood as an average, since it cannot be applied indiscriminately to every public sector.
"No one would force a reduction in public employment if it was not through rotation and retirement. The government is adjusting that policy in terms of the retirements we observe.”
This means is, at best, that the goal for the decrease in the number of public employees is now three thousand. This could justify, to some extent, part of the increase in employees’ costs throughout 2016.
