President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, presenting the 2026 Budget, announced several key measures concerning public sector salaries and pensions to ensure sustainability and fairness within the system.
He stated that a Salaries and Pensions Commission will be established to manage salary and pension policies in a sustainable and equitable manner.
The Commission will address salary anomalies that have arisen over the years and provide comprehensive solutions to issues faced by public employees and pensioners regarding salaries and allowances.
The President further noted that all government officers recruited to the public service on or after January 1, 2016, currently have a clause in their appointment letters specifying entitlement to contributory pension benefits.
However, as it is impractical to treat such employees as being outside the existing pension scheme, this clause will be removed and their entitlement to the current pension scheme will be formally confirmed.
An allocation of Rs. 110 billion has been provided for the implementation of the second phase of salary revisions introduced in 2025. These revised salaries will be paid to all public servants starting from January 2026, the President said.
In addition, the second phase of pension anomaly rectification for those who retired before 2020 will be implemented based on the 2019 salary structure. A total of Rs. 20,000 million has been allocated for this purpose, with payments scheduled to commence from July 2026.
