Dirty Dinar

Kuwait looks to be following in the path the United Arab Emirates set last November. In November 2007 the UAE announced that they will be increasing government salaries by 70%. Of course, they have inflation to compete with.

In Kuwait, people always want more money or their loans dropped. Time will tell how much of an increase public sector employees will receive. I’m more interested in the last sentence of the article.

KUWAIT: Minister of Finance Mustafa Al-Shamali said the government is focusing on the issue of increasing the salaries of all government employees before the end of February 2008. Al-Shamali said the Word Bank has prepared a study about the salary raise issue and the study will soon be sent to the Civil Service Commission (CSC). The study will have information such as the average income of government employees in various sectors and departments, the size of price increases and inflation rates, the financial amounts needed to be able to cover these increases, and other types of important information related to this issue.

Al-Shamali said after the report has been reviewed by the CSC, it will then be submitted to the Cabinet so it can be approved. He expects that the salary raises will be issued on or before Kuwait’s celebration of independence and liberation day, which is at the end of February.

Al-Shamali did not give any details about how much the increase would be and did not say whether the salary raises would be one fixed amount or would vary depending on government positions or departments. He said it is not possible to specify a certain amount with the World Bank’s report. “But God willing, the salary raise will cover everyone and will satisfy everyone as well,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Interior Sheikh Jaber Al-Khaled said the government is concentrating on this issue and the employees of the Ministry of Interior, whether soldiers, officers, or civilian employees, will have their salaries reviewed.

The minister promised that a full study about the salaries of Interior Ministry employees would be prepared and he noted that the employees from this ministry deserve the salary increase.

In another development, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor’s committee for expatriate work affairs said they have achieved many feats in a short span of time.

One achievement of the committee was a preparation of a study about minimum wages in Kuwait and a study about issuing commercial licenses in accordance to local labor market needs. The committee said they also aim to further develop the private labor sector.

Published Date: January 07, 2008