Rs. 2,500, From July: Why Recent Pensioners Are Being Asked to Wait Again

Among the many measures in the 2027 Budget presented on 12 November, one will matter a great deal to a particular group of older Sri Lankans: government servants who retired between 2020 and 2024.

According to Ada Derana, the President proposed a monthly interim allowance of Rs. 2,500 for these pensioners. It will start on 1 July 2027 and will be paid only until their pensions are revised under the new 2025 salary structure. That revision, Ada Derana reported, will begin with the 2028 Budget and will be carried out in several phases.

The gap the government admits

The problem is one the government itself acknowledges. Ada Derana reported that the government recognises gaps between the pensions of people who retired before 2025 and those who retired in or after 2025, when the new salary scales came in. A public servant who retired in 2023 may have done the same job as a colleague who retired in 2025, yet receive a noticeably smaller pension for the rest of their life.

The government has been closing an older gap, for those who retired before 2020, in three phases since the 2025 Budget. Ada Derana reported that two phases are complete and the final one is due in 2027. That is progress, and the government deserves credit for keeping to that schedule.

Why the timing matters

For the 2020 to 2024 group, however, the message is to wait. Nothing new arrives for the first six months of 2027. Then comes Rs. 2,500 a month, a modest sum against today’s prices: Newswire reported that a 12.5 kg Litro gas cylinder costs Rs. 4,365 this month. The Daily FT reported that electricity tariffs will stay unchanged for the last quarter of 2026, which is a small respite, but not a cut. The real fix is not due to begin until the 2028 Budget, and even then it will come in phases.

Compare that with serving public servants. The Daily Mirror reported that the Budget allocates Rs. 110 billion for the final phase of their salary revision, with higher allowances for doctors, nurses, police and others, most from April or July 2027. Lanka Witness does not argue against those increases. But pensioners cannot strike, cannot work overtime and cannot easily change jobs. Many are in their sixties or seventies. For some, a revision that begins in 2028 and is paid in stages may come too late to make much difference.

What the government should explain

The government should publish how many pensioners retired between 2020 and 2024, what the average gap is between their pensions and those of people who retired after 2025, and how much a full revision would cost. The Sunday Times reported before the Budget, citing an unnamed official, that pension payments were expected to cost about Rs. 500 billion, so the scale of the bill is known inside government. With those figures, the public could judge whether a faster timetable is affordable within the IMF targets, or whether the delay is a choice.

It should also say whether the Rs. 2,500 allowance will be reviewed if prices rise. An allowance fixed today and paid from July 2027 will be worth less by the time it arrives if inflation continues.

The NPP has often said that it wants a fairer public service. Treating people who gave the same service differently because of the year they retired is not fair, and the government has admitted as much. The test now is how quickly it fixes it.