Despite promises of austerity in government expenditures, the public payroll
increased by an average of 3.5% in 2003, as reported in Diario Libre. This pace
of growth in government hiring is less than that reported for 2002, which stood
at 5.1%. The Central Bank statistics show that the government employed a total
of 378,498 employees in 2002, that had increased to 392,026 in September 2003.
City governments, most of which are managed by ruling PRD-party politicians,
increased their payroll spending by 11.5%.