President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan has announced plans to cut the country’s Public Service by a quarter over two years.
Mr Tokayev (pictured) said 10 per cent of all officers would be made redundant by the end of the year with another 15 per cent following in 2021.
Speaking before the National Assembly, he said the COVID-19 pandemic, which had forced Public Servants to work from home, showed that “the State apparatus can and should be reduced”.
“The funds that will be saved will be allocated to raise the salaries of the remaining Civil Servants,” Mr Tokayev said.
“Low-paid Public Servants are actually too expensive for society,” he said.
“It leads to negative selection, lack of competency, initiative and, most importantly, it leads to corruption.”
Mr Tokayev promised a new scale to judge the remaining Public Servants “leading to increased responsibility and motivation”.
“We also need more specialists with fresh ideas and initiatives,” he said.
He instructed lawmakers to prepare a package of amendments to Public Service legislation by the end of the year.
Mr Tokayev also announced the creation of an Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms which would report directly to him and become the “central element of the State planning system”.
“The decisions made by the Agency will be final,”
“The Statistics Committee, which is currently under the Ministry of the National Economy, will become part of the new Agency,” he said.
Nur-Sultan, 5 September 2020
