The government should aim to curtail the growth of South Africa's public sector wage bill in line with the inflation rate, the IMF senior resident representative to South Africa said this week. Curtailing the wage bill was a significant measure that with other steps to put a lid on national debt could add three quarters to one percent to GDP over the next three years. "A significant proportion of that could come out of the wage bill by doing a number of things," IMF representative Montie Mlachila told Business Times this week. On Monday IMF officials from Washington concluded a two-week assessment of South Africa, meeting with government authorities. Their discussion focused on reforms to reignite growth and reduce poverty and inequality, the IMF said. The IMF's blunt assessment of how essential it was to curb wage growth in the public service was followed on Wednesday by an announcement by the Department of Public Service and Administration that it planned to offer voluntary severa...
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