SBY confirms salary hike for officials

SBY confirms salary hike for officials

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Low-ranking civil servants, including soldiers and police
officers, will have their basic salaries raised next year under a
government plan that has received support from the House of
Representatives.

In a state address to the House on Tuesday, President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono said the government would increase the salaries
of low-level civil servants by between 5 percent and 20 percent
in 2006.

The government also will give civil servants an extra month's
pay each year, called a 13th salary, with the priority being
given to low-ranking officials.

"We are grateful that the government and the budgetary
committee have agreed on a scheme to improve the income of civil
servants," Susilo said in his state address during the first
plenary session of the 2005-2006 sitting session of the House.

According to the law, the president is required to give a
state address every year on Aug. 16, one day before Independence
Day.

The pay rise policy will be implemented by regional
administrations, which will receive the necessary funds from the
state budget.

It is unclear where the government will get the money for the
program, the total cost of which has yet to be announced.

Susilo said the government had canceled plans to increase the
salaries of high-ranking state officials next year following
criticism from legislators and other observers.

House Speaker Agung Laksono said in a written speech earlier
in the day that the legislature had asked the government to
reconsider its plan to increase the salaries of high-level
officials due to the strain on the state budget.

He said it would have been inappropriate for the government to
give raises to high-ranking officials, no matter how small the
increases.

The House suggested the government only increase the monthly
pay of low-ranking civil servants, including military and police
personnel.

"We listened to you," Susilo said in remarks during his
speech.

The President said the government also was studying the
possibility of hiring new civil servants next year to fill
vacancies in the education, health and religious sectors.

The salary increases are part of the government's plan to
improve the working conditions of civil servants, soldiers and
police officers, many of whom survive on salaries that are below
the minimum regional wages established for workers in the private
sector.

If the plan materializes, it would be the first pay raise for
civil servants since 2003.

There are currently about six million civil servants, in
addition to some 500,000 soldiers and 125,000 police officers.