Egypt Jerk Up Minimum Wage To N41,760

While Nigeria is just in the process of legislating an increment in minimum wage, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has raised the country’s minimum wage to 2,000 Egyptian pounds ($116 or N41,700) a month from 1,200 pounds.

Speaking at an event on celebrating women on Saturday, Sisi said the raise would apply to all Egyptian workers and added that pensions would rise by 15 percent, with pensioners receiving a minimum increase of 150 pounds to take the minimum pension to 900 pounds.

“This was supposed to come out on June 30. But I said this matter cannot wait,” the president said.

Under the measures announced by Sisi, state employees will receive a raise of 7 percent, or a minimum of 75 pounds, while those not employed in the civil service will receive a 10 percent raise, also receiving at least 75 pounds.

All state employees will also get a bonus of 150 pounds to help compensate for inflation, Sisi said, urging Egyptians to alter their spending behavior to help combat rising prices.

“You want to control prices, don’t buy things that get more expensive. The matter is simple. By God, by God, by God, anyone selling and buying wants to profit and be successful – if they find that their prices are exaggerated and people don’t go buy their commodities, prices will fall,” he said.

The pay increases will cost the state 30.5 billion Egyptian pounds in total, Sisi said, noting that more than 300 billion pounds would be allocated for salaries in the 2019/2020 budget, up from 270 billion in the previous year.