Beyond $100K cash grant, public servants to still get retroactive salary increases

Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo clarified that public servants will still get retroactive salary increases.

The government’s one-off $100,000 cash grant, he said, is not a replacement for any salary increases.

“… the retroactive salary increase has nothing to do with the cash grant,” Jagdeo said at a press conference on Thursday.

The People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) government last year gave an across-the-board, retroactive increase of 6.5 per cent for public servants, teachers, members of the disciplined services, constitutional officeholders, as well as government pensioners.

Following negotiations between the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) and the government, teachers this week started receiving their 10 per cent salary increase as part of a multiyear deal.

In 2025, teachers will get an 8% increase and in 2026, a 9% increase.

He added, “The teachers will get their 10% and it will be retroactive. The public servants will get their pay and it will all be retroactive to January.”

The cash grant was part of a suite of measures recently announced by President Dr. Irfaan Ali. The distribution of the grant to all Guyanese adults should take about five months.

Jagdeo reiterated that all Guyanese adults (that is, persons aged 18 years and older) will be eligible for the $100,000.

Guyanese adults living abroad are also eligible for the cash grant but they must possess the relevant Guyanese identification documents and they must uplift the grant in Guyana.