Safwat al-Nahhas, head of the Central Agency for Organization and Administration, warned that a minimum wage of LE1200 will cause the prices of Egyptian goods and services to ratchet up, fueling inflation. He added that the Supreme Administrative Court has not set a specific minimum wage. The court on Tuesday upheld a previous ruling requiring the government to set a minimum wage for state employees. Al-Nahhas said a disagreement between the Egyptian Federation of Trade Unions (EFTU) and representatives of industrial unions and commerce chambers at the Egyptian National Council for Wages is the main impediment to setting a minimum wage. In statements to Al-Masry Al-Youm, al-Nahhas said the EFTU is calling for a minimum wage between LE1200 and LE1500, while producers say LE300 is sufficient. "The government has no problem with either option," he added. The average minimum wage for an entry-level state employee at a local authority is LE490 and LE500 for those at ministries, centralized state authorities and universities, according to al-Nahhas. Regarding the factors determining the minimum wage, al-Nahhas said the wage must be higher than the national poverty line--which is somewhere between LE164 and LE180--and lower than half the average income--estimated between LE900 and LE1000. As such, the minimum wage should be between LE450 and LE500, according to al-Nahhas. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
