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We often praise the Finance Minister and to some extent his colleagues at Interior and at Commerce and Industry, for the difficult task they have undertaken and their efforts to get Cyprus out of the current economic difficulties. But it seems that the latest Cabinet decision to enlarge the already bloated and unproductive civil service by a further 1085 jobs was not taken by these same sane people.
Was the Cabinet meeting overrun by aliens or were decisions taken in the absence of the Ministers?
Why, then, is the government prepared to burden the taxpayer with a further 46 mln euros, at a time when it should be looking to cut back on public spending, particularly as regards its bulging payroll?
The Employers and Industrialists Federation, OEV, has rightly pointed out that this is a badly timed decision when state revenues are diminishing, while it will also make it even more difficult for the Cyprus economy to recover.
If the predictions come true and we see a worsening of the situation in the second half of the year, then the state will need to find alternative funding to meet its obligations, especially as this administration has pledged not to raise taxes.
OEV has appealed to the government to reconsider its decision and has called on the House of Representatives to seriously view the current state of public funds before approving the creation of new jobs.
There are a lot of idle or underutilised people in government that could easily be reassigned to other departments. But this is where the civil servants’ unions are adamant on not losing membership and even increasing their numbers, while pressing the government to give in to these illogical demands.
This is also one way of satisfying people who try to get lucrative government jobs through the back door, initially being hired as temporary staff and then crying they were abandoned and demanding that they be made full timers.
What OEV has not calculated is the spiralling cost of hiring more people, as the increasing strain on the Social Insurance Fund will drive it from the brink of bankruptcy to complete meltdown sooner than expected.
If Akel has proudly maintained a reputation of being a party of principles, why then, does it cave in to union demands and risk the welfare of future generations of taxpayers?
