State officials will enjoy a 7% increase in their salary in October if government agencies manage to trim their fiscal-2015 expenditure by 40 billion baht, says a Finance Ministry source.
However, the salary hike will be delayed to next April if only 20 billion baht planned for public spending is cut, the source said.
The 7% increase in state officials' salaries, estimated to cost 40 billion a year, is a junta measure aimed at stimulating the economy.
The National Council for Peace and Order plans to raise the salaries of state officials by 7% from the current regular hike of 6% per year.
All government agencies are mulling cutting unnecessary spending, the source said.
The fiscal-2015 budget has been set 2.575 trillion baht — 78.7% for expenditure, 17.5% for investment and the rest for Treasury reserves and debt repayment.
Apart from the salary hike, the Finance Ministry has also raised the budget disbursement target for the October-December quarter to 30% from 25% with the aim of boosting the economy this year.