News / National
Government's final statement on USD salary demands
04 Jan 2019 at 07:56hrs | Views
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services has issued a statement saying the demands by teachers and other civic servants to be paid in United States Dollar in unreasonable and will not be implemented.
His statement come at a time when the teachers unions issued a joint press statement that they are not going to work if their demand to be paid in US$ is not met.
"Demanding salaries in USD is unreasonable. We have come from a place where civil servants were not getting their salaries on time to one where salaries are coming in as scheduled." Mangwana said. "If the deficit is our problem, then asking government to overspend is pushing us into further serious debt"
Mangwana further clarified that all top officials in government including permanent secretaries and principal directors were also paid in local currency.
"I am not getting paid USD and nobody receives their salaries in USD. This is why we have the challenges we are facing at our embassies. We are struggling to pay foreign nationals we employ in those countries because they need their salaries denominated in the currency of their home countries.
Mangwana to the opportunity to explain why Zimbabwe is not keen on joining the Rand Monetary Union.
"The Rand Union consideration is not a new conversation. It was explored and the demands to join that union were onerous and would not be able to be met in the short to medium term. We may as well as work on our roadmap for the return of our own dollar."
Teachers have threatened to withdraw their labour until government gives in to their demands.
His statement come at a time when the teachers unions issued a joint press statement that they are not going to work if their demand to be paid in US$ is not met.
"Demanding salaries in USD is unreasonable. We have come from a place where civil servants were not getting their salaries on time to one where salaries are coming in as scheduled." Mangwana said. "If the deficit is our problem, then asking government to overspend is pushing us into further serious debt"
Mangwana further clarified that all top officials in government including permanent secretaries and principal directors were also paid in local currency.
Mangwana to the opportunity to explain why Zimbabwe is not keen on joining the Rand Monetary Union.
"The Rand Union consideration is not a new conversation. It was explored and the demands to join that union were onerous and would not be able to be met in the short to medium term. We may as well as work on our roadmap for the return of our own dollar."
Teachers have threatened to withdraw their labour until government gives in to their demands.
Source - Byo24News
