The private-sector minimum wage will rise by 17% starting January 2024after the National Council for Wages (NCW) decided to raise the threshold for the third time in less than a year to support workers amid soaring inflation. In astatement on Friday, the Planning Ministry said that private-sector firms will have to pay their employees a gross wage of at least EGP 3.5k a month from January, up from EGP 3k currently.

Cushioning the blow: Inflation reached an all-time high in September as the impact of the foreign-currency shortage and a series of devaluations continued to stoke price pressures.

This is the third time the council has hiked the minimum wage in less than a year: With the latest increase of the private-sector minimum wage, those on the minimum wage will have seen their monthly income rise 46% from EGP 2.4k to EGP 3.5K in less than a year’s time.

This is still less than the public-sector: The public-sector gross minimum wage was raised to EGP 4k this month as part of a package of measures announced in September aimed at easing the burden of soaring inflation on low-income households.

Annual salary increase minimums will also double: New rules introduced in January obliged private-sector firms to increase annual salary wages equal by at least 3% of the employee’s ins. From 1 January, the minimum annual salary increase will double to EGP 200.

Refresher: The private-sector minimum wage is relatively new in Egypt, and was introduced atthe beginning of FY 2021-2022 at EGP 2.4k a month. It hasn’t been met with unanimous support from the business community, with some complaining that they can’t afford to cover the higher wage bill.

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