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PE staff expenses ‘rising’
KATHMANDU, JUL 15 -
Public enterprises (PEs) witnessed a 25 percent rise in the employees’ expenses in the fiscal year 2008/09 as compared to the FY 2007/08. The rise is more than the national average salary increment of 10.5 percent in the same year.
The average monthly expenses for PE staff per person rose to Rs. 27,109.93 in the FY 2008/09 against Rs. 21,672.03 in the FY 2007/08, according to the annual performance review of public enterprises 2010.
The monthly expenses of employees include salary, allowance and other provisions for the employees.
Joint secretary at the Finance Ministry Tanka Mani Sharma said the significant rise in the expenses of the employees in PEs as compared to the national salary index was unjustified. “It shows that PE employees are facility seekers,” he added. Of the 36 PEs, most of the state-owned corporations saw a rise in staff expenses.
However, five PEs—Nepal Engineering Consu-ltancy, Nepal Television, Nepal Water Supply Corporation, National Ins-urance Corporation both (Life) and (non-life) and Nepal Hou-sing Develop-ment Finance Company Limited — witnessed a decrease in the monthly staff expenses.
The first two among them are incurring a loss while the rest earned profits in the FY 2008/09. It means the other 16 PEs that incurred a loss saw an increase in the staff expenses last year. A total of 18 corporations out of the 36 incurred loss in the FY 2008/09.The Ministry of Finance said in its report that public enterprises may face serious financial crisis in the future if they increase the salary and other benefits to their employees without considering the profits. Perceived government protection in PEs has encouraged employees to be complacent and they are not aggressive in the market, the report says.
Sharma, who also heads the corporation coordination division at the ministry, said a complete restructuring of employees in PEs is essential with competent and young generation replacing the retiring age employees besides transparent recruitment of employees by independent bodies like the Public Service Commission.
Among the PEs, Hetauda Cement has the highest average monthly expense per employee although it incurred a loss of Rs. 64.5 million in 2008/09. It topped the list in employee expenses in both FY 2007/08 and FY 2008/09 while Nepal Orind Magnesite has the lowest average monthly expenses on employees. The Orind Magnesite is also running at a loss.
Among the trading sector PEs, National Seed Company has the highest average monthly expenses on employees while Timber Corporation of Nepal has the lowest. The first incurred loss in the FY 2008/09 while the latter earned profits. In the service sector, Industrial District Management Limited has the highest average employee expense in a month while National Construction Company has the lowest. Both of them are also running at a loss. Likewise, Nepal Television boasts of the highest staff expenses in the social sector despite a decrease in the expenses on employees in the FY 2008/09.
The cultural corporation has the lowest expenses on employees in the category. Both of them incurred a loss last year. In the public utility, Nepal Telecom boasts of the highest staff expenses per month, while Nepal Water Supply Corporation has the lowest expenses. The staff expenses of the latter also decreased last year as compared to the previous year. In the financial sector, Rastriya Banijya Bank witnessed the highest average monthly expenses on staff while Citizens Investment Trust has the lowest expenses.
Posted on: 2010-07-16 08:34
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