Cabinet Approves Law to Increase Public Sector Minimum Wage and Pensions
The Cabinet of Ministers has approved President Abdelfattah Al-Sisi’s proposed bill to increase state employees’ wages as well as pensions.
The increase in pensions will be 15 percent, which will be reflected as a minimum raise of EGP 150; in addition, a minimum monthly pension of EGP 900 has been set. On the other hand, the bill allocates a minimum bonus of EGP 75 to all entities governed by civil service law. This includes governmental employees working at administrative entities, ministries, and public authorities.
The law’s main goal is to combat corruption as well as rewarding employees on the basis of merit and performance. Thus, it allows career advancement opportunities, but most importantly, with the minimum wage raised to EGP 2,000, it guarantees a respectable living standard to all Egyptians working in the private sector.
In an unprecedented increase, the state budget allocated to the increment is EGP 60 billion, reflecting Egypt’s keenness on promoting public workers’ well-being as well as rights, especially for those with a low-income.
Other than providing a financial incentive for better performance, the law aims at promoting a more encouraging environment for governmental workers. It especially hopes to empower young employees to seek leadership and supervisory roles.
The proposed bill will now be on its way to Parliament to be voted upon by the members of the House of Representatives; after that, it will be fully signed into law.
According to Egyptian Streets, the law states that the minimum wage of public servants is to increase from EGP 1,200 to 2,000 starting from the 30th of June, 2019. Al-Sisi has noted in a talk that more than 300 billion pounds would be allocated for salaries in the 2019/2020 budget, up from 270 billion last year.
The awaited increase comes at a time marked by an increase in prices, as well as living costs, as a direct result of the country’s economic reforms, which has had an effect on workers both in the public and private sectors.
