HARARE - The Zimbabwean government is awarding civil servants a 13th cheque, and their demand for a salary boost will be addressed in the 2011 national budget, Finance minister Tendai The southern African country, recovering from a severe economic crisis which President Robert Mugabe’s critics blame on government mismanagement, has failed to attract necessary aid to bankroll the 236000-strong government payroll. Biti said the “bonus” will be paid next week.The Finance minister told a pre budget seminar that the government will also raise civil servants’ salaries and their housing allowances in next year’s budget, but did not reveal percentages.
Civil service unions have for long demanded a pay hike of 300 percent, similar to that awarded to Mugabe and members of his cabinet two months ago.
“We have finished working on the issue of civil servants’ salaries and they will also get their bonuses next week,” Biti told a pre-budget seminar here.
Biti said the government wage bill takes up 60 percent of total revenue and that limited resources available made it difficult for the state to award significant wage increases.
Zimbabwe has had a number of strikes this year as unions complain that the paltry average US$160 salaries are making their lives impossible.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai told the pre-budget seminar: “In prioritising, we have to sacrifice. It is time we prioritise the issue of civil servants because they have been sacrificed for a long time.”
The chair of the Finance and Investment Promotion Parliamentary Portfolio Committee, Paddy Zhanda suggested that Biti staggers the wage increaments for government workers over the course of the year to cushion them against price fluctuations. Tsvangirai said his government was also looking at remuneration for legislators, currently on a paltry US$200 salary. The MPs have gone for extended periods without pay.
Post published in: World News