Parliament approves allowance law for civil servants

CAIRO – 22 June 2019: In a general session, Egypt’s House of Representatives (the lower house of the parliament) approved a draft law to give civil servants a 7-perecnt allowance on their basic monthly wages, ahead of an expected increase of fuel prices next month.

Meanwhile, those who work at private sector will receive a 10-percent allowance annually.

As per the daft law that was submitted by the government, the increase of LE150 (US$9.01) allowance will be applicable in July 2019.

Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel Aal said that the bill will be referred to the State Council for consideration.

In the ceremony of the Egyptian Women Day on March, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi declared the new allowances, and raising the minimum wage to LE2,000 (US$ 120.08) from LE1,200.

President Sisi also said that the increases of wages and allowances cost EL30.5 billion in the new fiscal year.

The move of allowance increases coincides with a scheduled hike of fuel prices that will be applied in July in accordance with the state’s austerity measures applied following the $12 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).