Government is standing ten toes down on its 4% wage offer to public servants for the period 2014-2019.

In his budget presentation this afternoon, Finance Minister Colm Imbert said the offer is “practical and equitable”, noting that with the current offer, backpay accrued to June 2023 will cost the State $2.6million.

“No responsible government can contemplate bankrupting the entire country simply to appease a portion of the labour force,” Imbert said, adding that the additional annual recurrent cost with the offer is approximately $500million.

“One trade Union (Amalgamated Workers Union) has already accepted our offer and we hope other unions will follow suit,” Imbert said.