Africa-Press – Cape verde. The Prime Minister stated today that after the serious economic contraction recorded in 2020, the economy is recovering well, promising to reinforce income and price measures and reforms to increase the country’s competitiveness and productivity.
Ulisses Correia e Silva made this announcement during his speech on the second day of this month’s parliamentary debate on “Income and price policies”, highlighting that taking into account the crisis context, income and price policy was not determined only for those who They work in public administration and companies, but also target people with greater economic and social vulnerabilities.
“In a very difficult context that no other Government in Cape Verde has faced since the advent of democracy, the wage bill increased by 32.7% in 2022 when compared to 2015. We increased the national minimum wage in 2018 and in 2023 and it will increase in 2024 and 2025”, he recalled.
The head of the executive reiterated in his intervention that the State Budget for 2024 provides that a worker who in 2016 received a minimum wage of 11 thousand escudos will start receiving 16 thousand escudos in 2024 if he is a public employee and 15 thousand escudos if he is a civil servant. company.
He added that for 2025 he foresees an increase in the minimum wage to 17 thousand escudos, highlighting that the average salary increased by 36.5% between 2015 and 2022, much higher than the accumulated inflation in that period and that per capita income increased from 3,737 dollars in 2016 to 5,248 dollars in 2023.
He also announced that the Teaching Staff Statute will be implemented in 2024, informing that a work team has already been set up to prepare and analyze the proposed revision of the Teaching Staff Statute and the remuneration table.
“In 2024, a second program to regularize precarious ties in the Central Public Administration and the first program to regularize precarious ties in the Local Public Administration will be implemented”, he reiterated, recognizing that after a serious economic contraction in 2020, the economy is recovering well , with economic growth, with a reduction in unemployment and poverty reduction and a reduction in public debt.
Ulisses Correia e Silva assured, on the other hand, that in the 2024 Budget, he will reinforce measures to relaunch economic growth, encourage private investment and entrepreneurship and that active employment and social protection and inclusion policies, in a context where inflation will remain at levels below 3%.
“A new medium-term strategic agreement will be concluded with social protection partners. We can assume with a sense of responsibility and commitment income and price policies and reforms to increase the country’s competitiveness and productivity”, she promised.
He highlighted the improvements recorded in the various intervention sectors, considering that the extreme poverty rate dropped to 9.4% in the second quarter of 2023 in line with the Government’s commitment to eradicate extreme poverty.
“In a normal context we would be much better off. To face the crises and severe droughts of 2017 and 2021, we invested more than 2.5 million contos in mitigation programs with an impact on protecting the income of thousands of families in rural areas”, he declared, remembering that the Government made every effort to face the effects of the crises caused by the pandemic.
The government official highlighted that many of the measures are still in force and some have been reinforced and that in Public Administration the Government has increased the minimum wage, updated salaries and pensions, regularized thousands of job dependencies for progressions, promotions, reclassifications, pending subsidies from 2016 .
“All these measures have an impact on income. In 2024, the Functions and Remuneration Career Plan will be implemented, applicable to general regime career staff and will replace the current PCSS. The Functions and Remuneration Career Plan will have an impact on remuneration”, he said, highlighting that the implementation of the plan will imply a salary increase of 19.8%”, he asserted.
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