According to the head of the commission on civil service salaries, a pay cut for 190,000 government employees is quite unlikely. The commission's pay survey and research unit has collected pay-rise details from most of the 82 private companies in a survey.
The findings will help the Government decide whether it should go further than the pay freeze announced in the Budget in March.
The Commission on Civil Service Salaries and Conditions of Service chairman, Sir Sidney Gordon, said he believed the surveyed companies had awarded at least a one or two per cent increase and, as a result, pay cuts were unlikely.
He believed private sector wage rises lessened the chance of a government reduction.
'Although the actual wages are much lower than those in the previous year, I doubt very much there will be reductions,' he said. This was because fluctuations, such as wage reductions and staff cutbacks, will be excluded when compiling the indicators for government consideration, according to Sir Sidney.
The surveyed companies had reportedly awarded wage rises of between two and three per cent over the past year.
