The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) says Kenya continues to move toward capping public sector salary spending at 35% of total revenue to restore balance between wages, development spending, and service delivery.
Speaking in an interview on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, SRC Chief Executive Officer Ali Abdullahi said the reforms introduced in 2021 under the wage bill-to-revenue ratio framework have helped stabilize spending on salaries, even as the country still faces pressure to protect employee welfare while maintaining fiscal discipline.
“In 2022, 50.4 per cent of revenue was being used to pay salaries. We have reduced that figure to 40.8 per cent. Our target is 35 per cent, and we are working towards achieving it,” Abdullahi said.
Abdullahi added that Kenya’s wage bill debate remains a major fiscal challenge because nearly half of government revenue previously went to salaries, squeezing funds for development and weakening service delivery.
He explained that SRC introduced the wage bill-to-revenue ratio in 2021 to keep government spending within a level the state can sustain, while still funding both remuneration and development priorities.
“We usually look at this wage bill thing. We came up with the wage bill-to-revenue ratio in 2021. We were at 50.4, meaning half of the money collected went into paying salaries,” he said.
Abdullahi said Kenya has made progress, noting that the decline to 40.8% reflects stronger efforts to control spending and improve revenue collection. He warned, however, that cutting the wage bill too far could harm morale and reduce productivity across the public service.
“We are supposed to not go beyond 35 percent. There is a mismatch between the wage bill and revenue improvements. Containment of expenditure is key,” he said.
Abdullahi added that SRC views fiscal discipline as essential, but it also believes the state must protect employee motivation to maintain effective service delivery.
“We believe if we contain expenditure or control spending, there is a maximum where we can reach. We cannot go below that because it will have a negative effect on morale and people will not give their best,” he said.
He stressed that a motivated workforce underpins better service delivery and stronger revenue generation, and he said the ultimate aim is to ensure public resources produce tangible results for citizens.
“There has to be a turnaround for citizens. The numbers we have should produce more,” he said.
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