CAIRO: Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif said the government will give public-sector employees a salary increase of at least 20 percent this year. In an interview with state-run Al-Messa, the prime minister said, there are studies underway on the real resources with which the next social raise will be financed so that it will be more than 15 percent. In any case it will not be less than 20 percent. According to Reuters, analysts have note that the inflation rate for the poor is higher than the average because they spend more of their income on basic foodstuffs, which have risen sharply in price. Finance Minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali said this week that increase in prices should not push up the budget deficit, expected to be 6.9 percent of gross domestic product. Following a meeting with workers union leaders, Nazif refuted claims that government polices are not driven by the interests of high profile businessmen. He said the government supports the workers. He said that the salaries have increase from LE 35 billion in 2004 to LE 72 billion. Stressing his earlier stance against strikes and protests, Nazif added that the government is working on a plan to cater to workers demands - put forward of course through "legitimate unions. At the same time, Minister of Manpower Aysha Abdel Hady said that President Hosni Mubarak would announce "pleasant news to the benefit of the workers and the citizens during the celebration of Labor Day. Mubarak is expected to give this annual Labor Day speech on Wednesday, April 30. Abdel Hadi, however, didn't provide details about the nature of these "pleasant news. She only said that the president had given instructions to raise living standards of the workers. He also stressed, according to Abdel Hadi, that all problems need to be solved through negotiations. Strikes and protests have increased over the past few months amid inflation and rapid increase of prices. Workers' strikes, which have been making headlines for a couple of years, turned into riots in El Mahalla El Kobra, home to the state's biggest textile factory. Three people were killed. - With agencies.
