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Zvamaida Murwira-Senior Reporter

The measures made by Government to cushion its workers, including an improved US dollar salary and indexing the Zimbabwe dollar component to the prevailing interbank rate, has seen conditions of service for the public sector workers matching their counterparts in the private sector, Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister July Moyo said yesterday.

Minister Moyo said this in the National Assembly on Wednesday while responding to questions from backbenchers during the Question and Answer session.

His remarks come as public sector workers have started receiving an improved United States dollar salary, while the local currency portion of their pay has now been indexed to the prevailing official exchange rate, in a development expected to strengthen civil servants’ purchasing power.

Indexing of the Zimdollar portion of the salaries to the prevailing exchange rate will ensure that their buying power is insulated against movements in the exchange rate.

Commenting on what the Government was doing to improve the welfare of its workers, Minister Moyo said the National Joint Negotiating Council that brings together representatives of workers and the employer, struck several agreements aimed at improving their conditions of service.

One of them, he said, was to agree that the US dollar component, which has since been increased, should become part of their salary.

“This is a new agreement to ensure that the Zimbabwe dollar component is paid using the interbank rate.  This is a new social protection measure that has been agreed and it is a reasonable way of protecting workers,” he said.

With all the measures, said Minister Moyo, Government salaries now compete effectively with those in the private sector.

“I can assure you that I approve all the 48 National Employment Councils’ collective bargaining agreements, (and) when I look at what is happening in the private sector, what they are paying compared with the public sector, it is almost equal,. 

In recent months, civil servants’ pay has been eroded by inflation and the latest adjustment is expected to sustainably restore their purchasing power.

Some civil servants started receiving the new pay last Friday, whose flat US dollar component is now pegged at US$320, up from US$300.

Research has shown that minimum salaries in the private sector average US$250.

On another note Goromonzi West legislator, Cde Beata Nyamupinga-Karimatsenga (Zanu PF), asked Minister Moyo if Government prioritises people with disabilities in food distribution to vulnerable persons.

In his response, Minister Moyo said they prioritised people with disabilities.

“On drought mitigation measures, the people whom we prioritise are the aged, disabled persons, orphans, child-headed families. When we get into villages, these are the people whom we prioritise. 

“As MPs you are also supposed to be there when we identify those that qualify but you are not allowed to distribute. Your presence is just to ensure that deserving people are catered for,” said Minister Moyo.

 He added that they were expecting the number of people requiring food aid to rise this year, given the expected El Nino-induced drought.

Government is still assessing the number of people requiring food aid and other related logistical issues, said Minister Moyo.