{"id":270333,"date":"2026-03-21T15:44:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T19:44:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=270333"},"modified":"2026-03-21T15:44:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T19:44:21","slug":"government-says-5-pay-rise-wont-strain-finances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-says-5-pay-rise-wont-strain-finances\/","title":{"rendered":"Government Says 5% Pay Rise Won\u2019t Strain Finances"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The government says its decision to grant a five percent interim salary increase to public servants will not put pressure on the national treasury, with the adjustment set to take effect at the end of March.<\/p>

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Officials said the increase had already been factored into the country\u2019s financial planning, noting that it was announced during the 2025 Budget and should not come as a surprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Director General of Communications Maurice Merchant said the measure is intended to provide short-term relief to public sector workers while negotiations continue on a broader compensation package.<\/p>

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He added that treasury officials were given advance notice to ensure a smooth rollout and that employees should see the increase reflected in their end-of-month salaries.<\/p>

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Cabinet described the adjustment as temporary, stressing that it does not represent the final outcome of ongoing talks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government also pointed to its wider economic strategy, citing a focus on resilience, social protection and sustainable growth, while indicating it will continue monitoring global conditions and take further action if needed.<\/p>

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The government says its decision to grant a five percent interim salary increase to public servants will not put pressure on the national treasury, with the adjustment set to take effect at the end of March. Officials said the increase had already been factored into the country\u2019s financial planning, noting that it was announced during […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":111929,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-270333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nGovernment Says 5% Pay Rise Won\u2019t Strain Finances - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-says-5-pay-rise-wont-strain-finances\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Government Says 5% Pay Rise Won\u2019t Strain Finances\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The government says its decision to grant a five percent interim salary increase to public servants will not put pressure on the national treasury, with the adjustment set to take effect at the end of March. Officials said the increase had already been factored into the country\u2019s financial planning, noting that it was announced during […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-says-5-pay-rise-wont-strain-finances\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Antigua News Room\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-21T19:44:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-21T19:44:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/TreasuryBuilding.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1366\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-says-5-pay-rise-wont-strain-finances\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-says-5-pay-rise-wont-strain-finances\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Editor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\"},\"headline\":\"Government Says 5% Pay Rise Won\u2019t Strain Finances\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-21T19:44:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-21T19:44:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-says-5-pay-rise-wont-strain-finances\/\"},\"wordCount\":177,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-says-5-pay-rise-wont-strain-finances\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1366\/h:768\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/TreasuryBuilding.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-says-5-pay-rise-wont-strain-finances\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-says-5-pay-rise-wont-strain-finances\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-says-5-pay-rise-wont-strain-finances\/\",\"name\":\"Government Says 5% Pay Rise Won\u2019t Strain Finances - 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