AMMAN — A
recent report issued by
Jordan Labor Watch stated that despite inflation, the
cost-of-living allowance, which is given to public sector’s employees, has not
been increased in the last 10 years.
اضافة اعلان
The report was received
with disapproval by economic experts who said that an increase in allowance would
bring up the rate of inflation in the Kingdom.
Economist
Husam Ayesh told
Jordan News that “in order to combat inflation, the government
should not increase salaries or the cost of living allowance”.
He said,
however, that the government has other tools to use to combat inflation, particularly
price controls, tax cuts, and a more flexible fuel tax.
According to Ayesh,
the government can resort to such tools, and that would help the economy grow.
“The solution
should be through supporting the supply side in order to keep the demand going,”
he pointed out.
Public sector salaries
consume the bulk (65 percent, according to economists) of current expenditure
in the country’s state budget.
Former minister
of state for economic affairs, Yusuf Mansur, told
Jordan News that since
2016, the economy “has not seen high rates of inflation”.
“(This) is the
only year in which the inflation rate rose. This is why we cannot say that we
have high rates of inflation that make it necessary to increase the
cost-of-living allowance,” he said, suggesting that the government should “decrease
fuel prices, which are considered the main cause of inflation”.
Mansur added
that increasing wages without studying all aspects of the issue would have
serious consequences, indicating that “a cash infusion without a production
increase would cause another inflationary wave”.
He noted that
the key solution here “is to revitalize the economy and encourage work in the
private sector”.
However, an expert
in labor affairs and head of the Workers' House, Hamada Abu Nijmeh, told
Jordan
News that the minimum wage, in both the public and private sectors, “is lower
than the poverty line”.
“This makes any
increase in wages, which are already below the poverty line, of little help in
increasing the purchasing power,” he added.
Read more Features
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
