Government proposed maximum wage 36 times the minimum

The Egyptian government proposed a maximum wage rate 36 times the minimum wage Monday.

Dr. Hazem al-Beblawy, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Finance, said that wages would be set by an equation accounting for average inflation and an average wage growth of 10 percent annually over a 38-year career at a cabinet meeting concerning the disparity in government wages. The equation would allow wages to reach 36 times the minimum wage.

Cabinet spokesman Ambassador Mohamed Hegazy said the cabinet agreed to form a committee to study the status of wages and propose a new framework to remove disparities and contradictions in the law.

The committee is expected to complete the study within 6 months.

A 700 EGP (U.S. $117) minimum wage was set by the government on July 1.