Egypt's Ministry of Finance Mohamed Maait has announced the details of the EGP 150bn ($4.85 billion) social protection package that will increase salaries of public employees as of April. President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi directed the government in March to address soaring inflation in the country by increasing public employees' salaries and pensions. The package includes EGP 95bn allocated to raise the minimum wage and finance the Takaful and Karama social protection programmes, and EGP 55bn to boost pensions, according to Maait. Under the new measures, public employees will see their monthly salaries increase by a minimum of EGP 1,000 starting in April. The minimum wage in the public sector will rise by 17 percent to EGP 3,500 per month, while employees with advanced qualifications, such as a master's or PhD degree, will also see their minimum salaries increase to EGP 6,000 and EGP 7,000 per month, respectively. In addition, an 8% periodic bonus will be applied to employees subject to the Civil Service Law with a minimum amount of EGP 125. A 15% special bonus will be applied to those who are not subject to the law with a minimum amount of EGP 125. Lump-sum bonuses ranging from EGP 300-400 will be applied to salary grades from second to sixth, while general managers will receive an EGP 500 bonus. This marks the third increase in public employees' salaries and pensions during the current fiscal year. It was first raised from EGP 2,400 to EGP 2,700 in July, then raised a second time to EGP 3,000 in October. The minimum wage in the private sector, which is regulated separately, has been set at EGP 2,700 since January. Maait said that if an employee is entitled to a pension and has not reached the age of 60, he will be paid the special allowance that fulfills the conditions for its entitlement. His employer must then notify the pension authority of that, so if this allowance is less than the increase in the pension, the pension shall be increased by the difference between those two amounts. He added that if an employee is entitled to a pension and has reached the age of 60 or above, the increase in the pension is paid to him, and if this increase is less than the special allowance, he is granted the difference between them from the authority after obtaining an official statement from the authority that pays the pension with the value of the increase due to him. If the worker is entitled to a pension on behalf of others, he is entitled to combine between the special allowance and the increase in the pension, taking into account the provisions of the Social Security and Pensions Law.
