Kenya has suspended plans to increase the salaries of several public officers and members of parliament from July 1.

On Wednesday, the country’s Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) said it had “frozen the upward review of salaries for all state officers and will review the advice for all other public officers to ensure the wage bill’s affordability and fiscal sustainability.”

SRC chairperson Lyn Mengich said the commission suspended the planned salary increment after consultations.

It comes after Kenya’s President William Ruto directed the country’s finance ministry to put the proposed salary increment on hold to help Kenya “live within our means.”

The Council of Kenya’s 47 Governors also urged the SRC to halt plans to increase state officers’ salaries.

On Wednesday, Kenya’s Nation newspaper reported that the proposed salary increment would cost the government nearly 11 billion shillings ($85.3 million) annually.

Amid growing public demand for fiscal responsibility, President Ruto’s administration has heeded calls to address government overspending by reversing the initially proposed salary adjustments.

Recent demonstrations against tax hikes resulted in the tragic loss of at least 39 lives, according to the country’s Human Rights Commission. These protests compelled President Ruto to veto the Finance Bill 2024, which sought to hike taxes.