CAIRO: President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi decreed Saturday that the social security pension be increased by 10 percent as of July 1, state-owned MENA said.
“The new pension rate will benefit over 4.5 million people,” Minster of solidarity Ghada Wali said, adding that the raise would be provided by the State Treasury.
On June 18, Egypt’s Cabinet approved an initial draft of the state budget for the new fiscal year (FY) 2015/2016 (to start July 1) with a deficit projected to reach 9.9 percent of GDP.
In the draft budget, expenditure on social programs is projected to amount to 431 billion EGP ($57.5 b), nearly 49 percent of total public expenditure and a 12 percent up from the current fiscal year.
Secretary General of the Public Syndicate for Pensioners Said Al-Sabbagh described the raise is “shockingly” little.
“Two million pensioners receive from 400-500 EGP per month. The increase means 40 to 50 EGP per month, which is too little compared to the continuous rise in commodities prices,” Sabbagh was quoted by vetogate.com.
On June 1, 2014, Egypt’s interim President Adly Mansour issued a decree giving state employees a 10 percent raise on basic salaries as of 30 June, 2014.