The National Chamber of Exporters’ (NCE) said that they are ready to absorb around 40, 000 public sector workers to be employed in their member export companies.
Considering the prevailing economic situation in the country, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal by the Ministry of Public Administration to allow state employees five years of no-pay leave without affecting their pensions or seniority. This initiative will allow government employees to be employed in the private sector in Sri Lanka or work abroad.
Sri Lanka currently has about 1.5 million public sector employees and about 86% of taxes collected from the general public were utilized to pay their salaries in 2021 after a fiscal stimulus which reduced state revenue.
This certainly will ease the burden on the country’s economy as the government doesn’t have to print money to pay the salaries which was also a contributor factor for foreign exchange shortages.
“Our member export companies (in addition to the private sector) are ready to hire these state employees to increase the productivity and efficiency of business operations, thereby finding a solution to the prolonged issues of lack of skilled labor,” said Secretary NCE, Shiam Marikar.
President NCE, Ravi Jayawardane hailed the Government for taking very important initiatives in addressing some of the burning issues the country is facing. “The Chamber has on many occasions been lobbying with the government on behalf of exporters and had discussions with the top brass highlighting solutions which will mitigate the severe impact on the already strained economy.”
One of the major issues was lack of sufficient fuel for exporters to continue their operations and maintain a solid level of supplying products to foreign markets. It is inevitable that Sri Lankan Exporters have the audacity to stay afloat to support the fiscal condition of the country in the face of adversity.
“We are pleased to learn that the Ministry of Power and Energy has introduced a QR system in streamlining the issue of fuel for industries and the Minister of Power and Energy for the initiative.” Under this new system, the SME sector would be granted a QR System to fill fuel to their barrels to be used for industrial use.
“Now the industries, including exporters will be able to power up their usual factory operations and continue productions uninterruptedly.” Sri Lankan Exporters are making ceaseless efforts to stay ahead in international markets and to thrive in this evolutionary phase. “Being resilient, our exporters have proven beyond all limits their willpower to sustain exports.” (SS)
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