The increase in the minimum wage has come
Negotiated during the last month of April, the increase in the legal minimum wage in the private sector will take place in September. The draft decree was to be examined this Thursday, September 01 by the Government Council, thus paving the way for the implementation of one of the main measures endorsed by the social dialogue.
The minimum wage will increase by 10%, in two steps, within the private sector, by 5% in this month of September and by 5% in September 2023. The increase will benefit a large number of employees. Statistics from the National Social Security Fund (CNSS) show that nearly four out of ten employees are paid the minimum wage. Currently at 14.81 Dirhams per hour, the hourly rate will initially move to 15.55 MAD and then to 16.3 MAD. This increase will allow employees paid the minimum wage to relatively catch up with the rise in inflation. The consumer price index increased by 7.7% during the month of July under the effect of the increase in the index of food products by 12% and that of non-food products by 5%. For non-food products, the variations range from an increase of 0.2% for health to 18.3% for transport. The core inflation indicator, which excludes products at volatile prices and products at public prices, rose by 6.5% in July. In the civil service, an increase in the minimum wage of 500 MAD is also planned. The minimum wage should also increase to 3,500 dirhams next September. This upgrade, which targets civil servants and public administrative establishments, requires a budget of 191 million dirhams (about 19 million USDs) and should benefit 50,000 civil servants. The social partners have also negotiated a general increase in wages in the civil service, the terms and level of which will be discussed during the month of September. This general increase in wages would certainly be included in the Draft Budget Law 2023 as is the case for the overhaul of the income tax grid in connection with which the government’s action will be scrutinized by the various stakeholders. Today, 73% of income tax revenue comes from source deductions from civil servants and private sector employees, and the overhaul of the tax system should, in principle, reduce the tax burden on low-income populations and on the middle classes with a view to improving their purchasing power.
The other increase, that of family allowances
Instead of 36 dirhams, the family allowance will move to 100 dirhams. This measure targets the fourth, the fifth, and the sixth child. In the public sector, this measure will cost 25 million MAD for a total of 32,495 beneficiary children. The same revaluation is also planned in the private sector whose family allowance branch is in surplus. In any case, in the private sector these allowances represent a salary supplement for people who earn less than the minimum wage : the allowances represent nearly 23% of the income of this last category! In 2019, family allowances increased by 100 MAD for the first three children of insured persons, which resulted in a 33% increase in family benefits paid by the National Social Security Fund.
Khadija MASMOUDI
