Mali - employment and salaries in the civil service

34077 E-781/85 March 26, 1985 French (Mali) CPD PS:bad Rev: JVS REPUBLIC OF MALI MINISTRY OF THE PLAN EMPLOYMENT AND SALARIES IN THE CIVIL SERVICE Review - Analysis Proposals Societe d'Etudes pour le Developpement Economique et Social (SEDES) 15 Rue Bleue - 75009 PARIS This report was prepared by Messrs. LARDEAU, LEENHARDT, MARTIN and THIBAULT. January 1985   -2- INTRODUCTION This report is based on a mission to BAMAKO conducted from November 26 to December 22, 1984 by a team of SEDES consultants, in response to a request from the Malian authorities (Ministry of the Plan) and the World Bank, to study the advisability of a salary increase in the Malian civil service. The purpose of the mission was spelled out in the terms of reference included as Annex No. 1 of the set of annexes attached to this report. The mission was conducted in a very open atmosphere and the consultants wish to thank the Malian authorities - particularly the Minister of the Plan and his departments, the Secretary General to the Office of the President, the staff of the Commission Nationale de la Reforme Administrative - CNRA (National Commission for Administrative Reform), the Director General of the Budget and his staff, the staff of the Direction Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Informatique - DNSI (National Directorate of Statistics and Data Processing) and Mr. Lassana Traore, the coordinator - and the representatives of the international organizations involved in the mission (IBRD and IMF) for their welcome and for giving the mission access to all the data available. With the exception of the adjustments necessitated by the situation found in the field (absence of certain data and changes in the needs expressed by the Malian authorities), the mission managed to follow the terms of reference in their entirety and to use them for guidance in selecting the methodology to be used. The methodology was initially based on the work carried out by CNRA and the Directorate General of the Budget in conducting a preliminary analysis  -3- of the prevailing situation in the civil service (job structure, pay and recent pay trends). The consultants then studied the role played by the civil service in the Malian labor market and the alternatives available to Malians in that market, not only in terms of employment but also in terms of salaries and fringe benefits. At the same time, after identifying, in consultation with various staff members of the Ministry of the Plan (including DNSI staff in particular), the main components of what one might call the "shopping basket," the consultants then conducted or organized several market surveys to test the real impact on consumer (food) prices of the switch from the Malian franc to the CFA franc, in order to add to, or even adjust, existing statistics, where necessary. Finally, once they had all the data they needed to be able to judge the advisability of updating civil service salaries in step with the private sector and price trends, the consultants then tried to relate total civil service salaries and their possible future trends to the country's budgetary constraints, not only in terms of other expenditures but also - and more particularly - in terms of the resources available to the Government on a short- and medium-term basis, which will largely depend on the country's economic and financial recovery in the next few years. The preliminary conclusions were submitted to the Malian authorities in mid-December 1984. They focused not so much on justifying an immediate salary increase, i.e. a policy-type decision, as on stating the need to look beyond short-term concerns and to plan for the reorganization of the Malian civil service in order to bring it into line with the country's efforts  -4 towards economic and financial recovery and with the loan agreements already entered into - and those that will inevitably be entered into in the future -- with donors. These conclusions contained the salary increase hypotheses described in Annex 19, which, given the fact that no savings in any other State budget items and no new resource generation can be envisaged in any case, already showed that any significant increase would mean a sizeable additional budgetary deficit; this could only be offset by a long-term increase in foreign aid, which would be subject to negotiation. These considerations prompted the consultants, when writing this report, to confirm, in their longer-term proposals, their full agreement with (1) the efforts to control civil service staff (physical checks) and to reorganize them (permanent staff cadres - cadre organique) currently being undertaken by CNRA and (2) the efforts of the General Directorate of the Budget to achieve a better balance (more functional from the point of view of the efficient operation of the departments) between personnel and equipment expenditures, action in these two areas requiring coordination and sustained determination at the highest level. All the discussions the consultants have had with both the Malian authorities and with representatives of the international organizations have led to this conclusion and therefore underlie the medium-term - and even the long-term - proposals put forward in this report, which consists of five main parts: Part A: Jobs and salaries in the Malian civil service - their structure and trends Part B: The labor market Jobs, salaries and fringe benefits offered Job selection among employment opportunities  -5- Part C: Price trends and purchasing power of civil servants Part D: Current economic and public finance situation Macroeconomic context Part E: Proposals A sixth part (F) has been added to provide figures illustrating three hypotheses modulating the measures announced in the context of the commitment made by the President in his New Year's Message to the Nation. These might enable the Malian authorities to adopt a solution that will not only respect the President's commitment but also aim towards a public finance cost that would be compatible with financial recovery and with the commitments undertaken to this end vis-a-vis the countries and international organizations that are providing Mali with assistance. For a quick overview of this report, see: - Pages 78 and 82* (a series of boxes summarizing the components of the analysis) - Pages 91 and 92 (boxes giving the consultants' medium and long-term recommendations and proposals) - Page 105 (a table summarizing the estimated annual costs stemming from the President's commitment, based on three hypotheses, permitting some modulation). *T.N. Refers to French text.  - 6 - PART A JOBS AND SALARIES IN THE MALIAN CIVIL SERVICE THEIR STRUCTURE AND TRENDS  -~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  -7- This part is divided into five sections: long-term staffing trends increase in personnel expenditures since 1979 and contributory factors 1984 salary structure statutory advancement and grade openings - age structure and foreseeable separations. 1. LONG-TERM STAFFING TRENDS The civil service has experienced a steady increase in staff since 1961 (Table A.1). This increase, which accelerated during the first few years after independence (18.6% average annual increase between 1961 and 1964), later slowed to 7.2% between 1964 and 1970 and 3.6% between 1970 and 1975. After again increasing fairly sharply between 1975 and 1980, the civil service work force expanded between 1980 and 1984 at an annual rate ranging from 2.2% (1981) to 4.9% (1980). During the same period, the country's occupational structure changed considerably: the share of civil servants in total employment figures rose from 47% in 1961 to 50.4% in 1970, 66.9% in 1980 and 71.8% in 1984. Even within the fonctionnaire category, the proportion of jobs in the upper echelons increased considerably (Table A.2): - fonctionnaires in category A, who accounted for 9.7% of all fonctionnaires in 1975, represented 19.2% in 1984; - the proportion of fonctionnaires in category B has also grown, i.e. from 28.3% in 1975 to 41.9% in 1984; - conversely, the proportion of fonctionnaires in categories C, D and E is declining.  -8- We note that, during the 1975-84 period, the greatest change occurred between 1975 and 1980, the structure being relatively stable between 1980 and 1984.  -9- Tableau na A-1 r4.;6e q _1 -rga&zs jvi-oreL sr-dF)=+a> .y snq-rus EVOLUTION DES EFFECTIFS TOTAUX ET PAR STATUT L.aiw, zwo/ We ivl (Source : Ministire-du 4avail at de la Fonction Publique) __ r9;t _. ._.I EFFECTIF Taux de YEAR Fonctionnaires Conventionnaires Total croissance ANNEE moyen annual j , cpea. e (1) 1961 4,982 5 ,552 10,534 * 18,6 % 1964 9,110 8 434 17 582 72 a 1970 13)425 13)212 26)637 *3,6 % 1975 18,078 131705 31,783 7,5 % 1980 30, 598 15 135 45)733 (2) au 31.12 1979 28,365 14,338 42,703 4,9 1980 30)308 14.478 441 786 * 2,2 a 1981 31.587 141t71 45,758 - ; 1982 33 589 14,136 47,725 * 2.9 i 1983 35 193 13,923 49 116 (3) 1984 36.540 .4 384 50.924 aui. (1) Based on: Review of trends in civil service staff, 1975-80 CNRA - UNDP (2) Based on: National Conference on Employment Employment policy in Mali DNTLS (Direction Nationale du Travail et des Lois Sociales) - ONMO (Office Nationale de la Main d'Oeuvre) (3) Based on: Processing of civil service personnel records in December 1984 as part of this study. *T.N. There are two employment categories in the Malian civil service. Fonctionnaires are governed by Civil Service Regulations while conventionaires are governed by a collective agreement (Convention Collective).  - 10 - Table A-2 .AlaUBEA 99j5&Ed,t2