Government is lining up another salary adjustment for civil
servants to cushion them from the unwarranted price increases that businesses
continue to effect.
Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli
Ncube said this in an interview with journalists at the National Sports Stadium
on Friday on the sidelines of the SADC day of solidarity against sanctions
imposed on Zimbabwe by the West.
“We are going to have another adjustment as I speak, then
we are going to pay the bonus in November. So we are doing our best in
gradually supporting civil servants,” he said. It could not be immediately
established when the latest increment would come into effect.
The lowest paid civil servant presently earns $1 023, which
their representatives say has since been overatken by inflation resulting in
some allegedly having challenges reporting for duty.
Once the salary adjustment comes into force, it will be the
third this year alone after reviews in April and July.
Asked if Government was considering pegging civil servants’
salaries to the interbank rate for foreign currency as has been suggested by
employee representatives, Prof Ncube said there was no money to sustain that.
“We cannot afford
it. Where is the exchange rate now, US$1:$15? So can you imagine if we were to
multiply that (the current salary) by a factor of US$1:$15.
“We cannot afford that as Government, we will go bust. So
we will do it in a gradual way, I think we have done our best. We had an
adjustment in April, another adjustment in July, another is coming, then we
have the bonus in November,” he said.
This year’s bonus will be pegged on gross income, a
departure from last year when the 13th cheque was based on pensionable salaries
only.
The development will increase civil servants’ disposable
incomes ahead of the festive season.
Prof Ncube said while Government has been adjusting civil
servants’ salaries, “within our means” in the face of a severe drought, it was
critical that private sector employers also played ball and adjust their
employees’ earnings.
He said while it was critical for private sector players to
cushion their workers, but said Government wants that to be done in a manner
which does not expose companies to bankruptcy.
Prof Ncube also praised civil servants and the rest of the
population for “being understanding because reforms are not easy”.
“We are doing this (salary adjustments and budget
surpluses) under severe drought, we have not suffered this kind of drought, power
outages, two cyclones and we are still standing. We have achieved a lot,” he
said.
Between January and June this year, Treasury recorded a
budget surplus of $803,6 million driven by fiscal discipline in line
ministries. Herald
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