Sri Lanka faces an urgent need to reduce its public sector workforce as maintaining the current size is no longer sustainable, according to Senior Presidential Advisor Duminda Hulangamuwa.
Speaking at a ceremony held in Colombo, Hulangamuwa emphasized that the treasury will struggle to support its current level of expenditure in the coming years. He highlighted that the number of public servants in Sri Lanka, presently around 1.3 million, needs to be scaled down to 750,000.
“As we progress, it is clear that the treasury will not have sufficient funds to sustain the current structure in the future. Maintaining a large public sector is no longer viable. Rationalizing public services, reducing employee numbers, and embracing digitalization are critical steps forward,” Hulangamuwa stated.
He proposed that reducing the workforce would allow the government to pay competitive salaries to the remaining employees, enhancing efficiency and accountability. “By streamlining the workforce and adopting digital technologies, we can ensure that taxpayers’ funds are utilized effectively. The goal is to improve public service delivery, not to privatize. It’s about providing better, more efficient services for the public,” he clarified.
Hulangamuwa also stressed the importance of identifying inefficiencies in public services and taking proactive measures to address them.
This development was reported by the Daily Mirror. Read the full story here.
