Civil servants one step closer to higher pay

2013-3-28

From：Macau Daily Times

Macau’s civil servants are one step closer to getting a 6.06 percent pay rise after the bill for the increase was officially introduced to AL for debate. It’s expected for approval and implementation by May.
In her introductory remarks in AL yesterday, Florinda Chan said the decision was made after listening to the views of the Committee for Evaluation of the Remuneration of Civil Servants, as well as various civil servants’ groups on top of consideration of the following factors including the 1.9 percent overall unemployment rate which continued to remain at a relatively low level, and an overall trend of increase in the average wages of local workers.
Another consideration was the annual rate of inflation in the period between January and December 2012 which was 6.11 percent. She said this scale of salary increase can, to some extent, ensure that the actual value of the public workers’ salaries is not affected by rising prices. The increase will cost the government approximately MOP633m.
The Executive Council made the suggestion a week earlier, and expected the AL to pass the bill in time for implementation in May. The bill titled “Update of Salaries and Pension and Consolation Payment for Civil Servants” suggests that the public workers’ remuneration index at 100 points be increased from the current MOP6,600 to MOP7,000 representing a rise of 6.06 percent. To meet the extra spending, the government will have to allocate MOP630m from the reserve of its current budget.
The AL continues with the debate today on other bills including the bill of “Civil Union between Persons of the Same-sex”.

Copyright@Macau Daily Times