Ministerial Sources Explain Reasons behind Delaying Discussion of New Wage Scale

Ministerial sources doubted on Wednesday that the draft law of the new wage scale will be referred to parliament during the cabinet session scheduled to be held at the Baabda Palace.

In comments published in al-Akhbar newspaper, the sources said that the salary adjustments will not be approved, pointing out that some modifications still require thorough discussions.

The cabinet will tackle during its session Finance Minister Mohammed al-Safadi's tax proposals in the presence of Central Bank Governor Riyad Salameh, who will reflect the impact of these suggestions on inflation and the economy, An Nahar newspaper reported.

Safadi's proposal suggests raising taxes on illegal seaside properties, customer deposits, luxury items, alcohol, fiscal stamps and fees on construction permits.

An Nahar newspaper said that the lingering debate over resources to fund the new boost in salaries is expected to face further obstacles after the Economic committees, a grouping of the country's businessmen and owners of major firms, reiterated on Tuesday its rejection to boost the wages for public employees that would "inflict major losses on the public and private sectors."

However, the Syndicate Coordination Committee, a coalition of private and public school teachers and public sector employees, is holding onto its stance.

Head of Public Secondary School Education Teachers Association Hanna Gharib said in comments published in An Nahar that “the SCC will go on with its planned general strike on Thursday” if the cabinet failed during its session to refer the draft law to the parliament.

The SCC strike is expected to “paralyze the public institutions and public and private schools.”

Gharib reiterated the coalition's demands, saying: “The decision must be referred as an urgent draft law to the parliament and without installments.”

The procrastination of the government in finding sources to fund the new scale has deepened the gap with the SCC, which is accusing the government of negligence over its failure to meet their demands.

However, the cabinet argues that it's delaying the issue to thoroughly discuss plans to boost the treasury's revenue to cover the expenses of the salaries boost.

The state treasury will have more than $1.2 billion to cover as there are over 180,000 public sector employees including military personnel.

Al-Akhbar newspaper quoted State Minister Marwan Kheireddine as saying: “The new wages scale draft law will remain in the drawers of the cabinet if the required funding resources weren't allocated.”

“Paying the salary boost in installments is to avoid its negative impact on the economy that might lead to inflation,” he said.

Earlier this year, the cabinet approved the new salaries scale for public employees.

The wages increase will be retroactive from July 1, 2012.