ZCZC
BCN-04
CHAD-ECONOMY-BUDGET
Chad vows no more pay cuts under austerity drive
N’DJAMENA, Feb 10, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Chad’s finance minister says the
country will not impose further cuts on civil servants’ pay this year, after
strikes and protests erupted over one of the most unpopular measures in an
austerity programme.
“There won’t be further cuts this year,” the finance and budget minister,
Abdoulaye Sabre Fadoul, told AFP in an interview on Thursday.
The government last month reduced civil servants’ bonus pay by 50 percent,
adding to a previous 50-percent cut in 2016.
Income tax was also hiked but “the lowest-income workers are now exempt”
from it, Sabre Fadoul said.
The impoverished state is enforcing cuts in public spending that the
finance ministry says are vital to stave off bankruptcy.
But the cuts have increased social tension and anger towards President
Idriss Deby, in power since 1990.
Trade unions initiated an indefinite general strike in the state sector on
January 29, and followed this with strikes in the private sector on Monday
and Tuesday.
They also called for a “Day of Anger” on Thursday, but the protest drew
only a meagre turnout amid tight security.
Chad’s economy has been badly hit by a downturn in the price of oil
exports since 2015.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) opened up a three-year $312 million
(254 million euro) credit line last June under a stabilisation programme.
Chad has received $48.8 million of this but to gain access to a second
tranche has to make progress in improving state finances.
It also has to conclude negotiations with the world’s biggest commodities
trader, Glencore plc, over outstanding debts that Sabre Fadoul put at $1.36
billion.
The country has 92,000 civil servants in a population of 15 million,
according to the government.
It has vowed to carry out checks this year to see how many positions are
occupied by “ghost” employees who get paid but do not work.
In 2017, public-sector salaries in 2017 totalled 376 billion CFA francs,
roughly the equivalent of the combined revenue from income tax and customs
duties, according to official figures given to AFP.
Nearly 40 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.
BSS/AFP/HR/0925