Syria Today | 25 percent salary raise for public sector

25 percent salary raise for public sector

‏President Bashar al-Assad issued legislative decrees number 24 and 25 on May 4 increasing the monthly salaries of state employees and monthly pensions of retired state employees by 25 percent. The decrees aim to make up for the rising prices of food, fuel and other commodities in Syria.

Finance Minister Muhammad al-Hussein said that more than two million people will benefit from the monthly wage increase, which became effective at the beginning of May. According to the minister, this increase will cost the government about SYP 58m per annum. The decrees also included directions for the private, cooperative and common sectors to increase minimum wages by the same rate as the public sector.

The rise in salaries came two days after a hike in prices of unsubsidised diesel and should also be seen in the context of a recent price increase for public transportation.

In 2007, the price of vegetables, meat, milk and cereals rose by 30 to 60 percent. The government has repeatedly stressed that the cost of bread will not rise.

Analysts have recently blamed governmental reforms for the rising prices, while officials have linked the problem to external factors. According to unofficial estimates, inflation last year was more than 14 percent.

Syria’s state employees earn an average monthly salary of around USD 175. Over the past seven years, public wages were raised a number of times by a total of more than 100 percent. President Assad also issued a number of one-time grants to state employees during the same period. “Decrees 24 and 25 fall within a governmental plan to improve individual income,” Hussein said.