The Egyptian government has pledged to improve wages and ease the financial burden on citizens by raising the minimum wage to 7,000 Egyptian pounds (1 USD = 50.45 EGP in banks) starting from the new fiscal year in July 2025.
In its proposed budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, the government allocated an 18.1% increase in wage provisions, totaling 671 billion pounds to fund the new salary increases.
This includes a 10% increase in the periodic allowance for civil service law employees and a 15% increase for non-civil service employees, with a minimum increase of 150 pounds per month, according to Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk's statement on Monday.
The government measures also include raising the “cost of living allowance” from 600 to 1,000 pounds and increasing the additional incentive by 300 pounds across all job grades.
This will result in a minimum monthly salary increase of 1,100 pounds for the lowest job grade, boosting overall wages.
While welcoming the increase in the minimum wage, Samira Al-Jazzar, a member of the parliamentary plan and budget committee, called on the government to take further steps to ensure citizens benefit from the wage hikes.
She stressed the need to regulate markets and implement strict measures against price manipulators.
Al-Jazzar expressed concerns about potential price hikes, which could lead to a rise in inflation again.
She told Asharq Al-Awsat that the government should have pursued multiple strategies to address this issue.
The lawmaker also emphasized the importance of expanding production, which she believes would gradually reduce prices.
Economic expert Karim Al-Omda told Asharq Al-Awsat that the new wage increases are a preemptive move by the government to mitigate public anger over expected rises in fuel and service prices.
The government plans to raise fuel prices three times by the end of this year as part of a fuel subsidy reduction strategy under the economic reform program agreed with the International Monetary Fund, which secured a $12 billion loan, according to statements from Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly.
Al-Omda urged the government to accelerate improvements in the education and healthcare sectors to genuinely enhance citizens' lives.
He highlighted the urgency of speeding up the implementation of the "comprehensive health insurance" system and making substantial reforms to the education system.
The Ministry of Finance has pledged to allocate the necessary funds to hire over 75,000 teachers, 30,000 doctors, and 10,000 other personnel in various government sectors in the upcoming fiscal year.
