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Workers are seen near Burma's new Parliament building when it was still under construction on March 27, 2010. (Photo: Reuters / Soe Zeya Tun)
The Burmese government has announced that it will increase the salaries of all public sector employees starting from April 1, when the country will hold important parliamentary by-elections.
According to an evening broadcast on state-run television, the Ministry of Finance announced that all government workers, including members of the armed forces, will receive a monthly cost-of-living allowance of 30,000 kyat (US $38) beginning next month. Public servants currently earn an average of around 50,000 kyat ($63) per month.
In addition to this bonus, daily wages of state employees working eight hours a day will increase from 1,100 to 2,100 kyat ($1.40-2.70), according to the announcement.
The increase will come into effect on the same day that the opposition National League for Democracy, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, will compete with the ruling military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) in by-elections seen as a key test of Burma's ongoing reforms.
The timing of the news has raised questions about whether the government is misusing its power to win support for the USDP.
Earlier this month, President Thein Sein said in a nationally televised speech that he was against a proposal to raise the monthly salaries of state employees by no less than 100,000 kyat ($125) in an effort to tackle corruption.
He said that the proposal, which had the unanimous backing of Parliament, would be too costly and would also fuel inflation.
“Since our government is elected by the people, we must also take into account the other 96.7 percent of the population,” he said in the speech, referring to the fact that state employees make up an estimated 3.3 percent of the population.
Thein Sein's cabinet also disapproved of the arguments of Lower House Speaker Thura Shwe Mann and MPs who called for the suspension and cancellation of state industrial projects, including Naypyidaw development project, to implement the proposed salary increase.
Thein Sein's cabinet also disapproved of the arguments of Lower House Speaker Thura Shwe Mann and MPs who called for the suspension and cancellation of state industrial projects, including Naypyidaw development project, to implement the proposed salary increase.
Government workers said they welcomed the news, but worried that it would bring about a simultaneous increase in commodity prices.
“The increased wages will ease my life a little bit, but that will make no difference if the prices go up. I just heard that the price of rice has already increased today,” said Nyunt Nyunt Win, a government primary school teacher in Insein Township in Rangoon.
By BA KAUNG / THE IRRAWADDY
Posted in: 05. MYANMAR
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