Egypt refuses civil servants’ pay-rise, says ministry official
Egypt’s finance ministry has rejected an earlier parliamentary proposal of lifting salaries for the public sector workers, the spokesperson for the Egyptian Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday.
Ahmed Hassan added that a pay-rise could result in a new surge in the inflation rate, which would subsequently lead to a notable increase in prices of goods and services. It could negatively affect the country’s budget deficit and the private sector’s salaries, forcing private businessmen to gradually lay-off their manpower, he warned.
He called on the parliament to postpone taking a decision on this topic until the country’s budget for the coming financial year (2017-18) is set by the government.
The parliament’s manpower Committee recently demanded reconsidering the pay of the public sector workers. The request came following the dramatic increase in the prices of goods and services across Egypt.
On his part, the committee’s head, Gebaly EL-Maraghy, stressed that a pay-rise would neither affect the private sector workers nor the country’s overall unemployment rate. He condemned a recent government decision of lifting salaries for the cabinet ministers.
In response to the condemnation, the ministry’s spokesman has refused linking the pay-rise request to the decision, noting to the consequences that could arise as a result of rising the government sector wages.
Egyptians have been suffering an increase in prices of basic goods and services following a decision to liberalise the Egyptian pound’s exchange rate against foreign currencies, a step that was taken by the Central Bank last November.
