Salary hikes will hamper economic revival, Shafeeg warns
The MDP on Wednesday defended the decision of the parliamentary committee to increase salaries.
By
Ahmed Naif
Finance minister Dr Mohammed Shafeeg said on Thursday that the proposed salary increase for MPs and political leaders will be a challenge to the efforts to revive and stabilise the economy.
On Tuesday, the Finance Committee of Parliament approved the increase in the salaries of MPs, President, Vice-President, Ministers, members of institutions and judges.
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With that, public discontent has been heavily targeted
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President Mohamed Muizzu has said that he does not want to increase the salaries of government political leaders; he said government officials would donate the increments to his salary to a fund such as a children's shelter
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The parliamentary committee has said the salary increments will be funded from the MVR 500 million budgeted for next year for pay harmonisation efforts
'Not healthy for economy'
When asked about the public concerns about the salary increase, Shafeeg said the president is also against increasing the salaries of political leaders. As such, he said:
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The decision will add MVR 93 million to the salary adjustment
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The report of the committee's decision has not yet been received; once the report is received, the budgetary burden of the decision will be considered
“This is not healthy for the economy at the moment and it is not acceptable to the general public. It is unacceptable for politicians to increase their own salaries without doing so with the civil service and other sectors when they are asking for it," he said.
The MDP, which controls both the committee and the parliament, on Wednesday defended the decision of the parliamentary committee to increase salaries. MDP members said that the decision to increase their salaries was taken especially because many of them are “poor” renters in the city and have to spend a large part of their salaries on their constituents.
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