According to Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait, Egypt will keep raising wages in 2024 to lessen the financial strain that its people have been under since the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing geopolitical unrest.
Maait emphasized the government’s current efforts in an official statement, mentioning two pay increase packages that were put into effect in April and October 2023.
These packages, which came out of the national treasury and cost EGP 210 billion, were meant to help public sector workers and retirees, Maait continued, even though the national budget was under pressure from many sources, including the sharp increase in the cost of necessities.
President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi raised the minimum wage for public sector workers from EGP 3,500 to EGP 4,000 as part of a slew of other measures he announced in September 2023 to combat inflationary pressures.
This came after the minimum wage was increased from EGP 3,000 to EGP 3,500 in March.
According to the minister’s statement, the government has gradually increased the minimum wage from EGP 1,600 to EGP 4,000 over the previous four years.
Additionally, Maait pointed out that in 2023, the government increased the annual income tax exemption threshold from EGP 24,000 to EGP 45,000.
He added that the government also took action to support Takaful and Karama benefits for its five million households, realizing the difficulties faced by vulnerable households.
Maait underlined that these benefits were increased by more than 40% through two packages that were put into place by 2023.
During the first nine months of 2023, Egypt saw a notable spike in headline inflation rates, which peaked in September at 40.3%.
According to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS), the inflationary trend started to slow down in October, and the annual headline inflation rate dropped to 36.4 percent in November.
