Sources have confirmed that President Mubarak has entrusted Dr. Ahmed Nazif, Egypt's Prime Minister, with raising the social allowance from 5% to 10%.

Meanwhile, the People's Assembly is due to begin...

Sources have confirmed that President Mubarak has entrusted Dr. Ahmed Nazif, Egypt's Prime Minister, with raising the social allowance from 5% to 10%. Meanwhile, the People's Assembly is due to begin its discussions today on the public budget in light of the President's amendments to the social allowance.   A source at the Egyptian Cabinet told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the new 10% social allowance would cost about LE 1.8 billion in the State budget. He said this amount was already there after LE 86.1 billion were allocated for wages and salaries in the new budget (LE 9 billion more than the current budget).   For his part, Hussein Megawir, President of the Egyptian General Federation of Trade Unions, said President Mubarak's decision was a victory for the labor movement, which resorted to the President to raise the allowance after the government set it to 5%. He described the new allowance as very appropriate in light of Egypt's current economic conditions due to the repercussions of the global financial crisis. Megawir expected the new social allowance not to be followed by any increase in prices, as he did not think any new burdens would be imposed on the people. He said President Mubarak's directives were clear in this regard, adding that the disbursement of the current social allowance as well as the value of the cumulative allowance would contribute to improving basic salaries.   Al-Masry Al-Youm had printed on Friday May 8 on its front page that the social allowance was expected to be increased from 5% to 10% in the 2009/2010 budget, and this was what President Mubarak entrusted Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif with yesterday. (Source: Al-Masry El-Youm)