HARARE —
Cabinet on Tuesday resolved to set a salary threshold of $6,000 a month for all senior managers of state enterprises and local authorities amid a public outcry over huge salaries that some top executives were earning.
In an attempt to quell public anger over huge salaries that some top executives were earning, cabinet resolved that no one should earn hefty salaries that were described by Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa as "illegal."
Minister Chinamasa told a news conference at the state-owned Munhumutapa Building following a cabinet meeting that they have resolved that the $6,000 monthly package should include all benefits such as health insurance, among others.
Chinamasa said the directive is with immediate effect.
Chinamasa added that cabinet resolved that all government workers should earn salaries that are above the poverty datum although he did not say whether government will be able to deliver on its promises this month.
The finance minister was quoted in the media recently as saying that government will effect a pay rise for civil servants in April while President Robert Mugabe who has said that he also wants a salary increment, has urged Chinamasa to deliver on his promise.
It is still not clear how government will finance the increased salary as Chinamasa says government coffers are empty with some returns from diamond sales yet to be accounted for.
Some labour organizations such as the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions have always called on authorities to increase workers’ salaries but government has always claimed that its purse is empty.
In an attempt to quell public anger over huge salaries that some top executives were earning, cabinet resolved that no one should earn hefty salaries that were described by Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa as "illegal."
Minister Chinamasa told a news conference at the state-owned Munhumutapa Building following a cabinet meeting that they have resolved that the $6,000 monthly package should include all benefits such as health insurance, among others.
Chinamasa said the directive is with immediate effect.
Chinamasa added that cabinet resolved that all government workers should earn salaries that are above the poverty datum although he did not say whether government will be able to deliver on its promises this month.
The finance minister was quoted in the media recently as saying that government will effect a pay rise for civil servants in April while President Robert Mugabe who has said that he also wants a salary increment, has urged Chinamasa to deliver on his promise.
It is still not clear how government will finance the increased salary as Chinamasa says government coffers are empty with some returns from diamond sales yet to be accounted for.
Some labour organizations such as the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions have always called on authorities to increase workers’ salaries but government has always claimed that its purse is empty.