Egypt unrest: Public-sector pay rise but protests go on

[nadinbrzezinski]

The Egyptian cabinet - reshuffled on 31 January, when President Mubarak sacked several ministers - met in its new form for the first time on Monday afternoon and agreed to raise public-sector salaries and pensions by 15%.

Finance Minister Samir Radwan allocated about 6.5bn Egyptian pounds (£677m; $960m) to cover the increases for six million employees.

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Analysis


Mark Mardell
BBC North America editor
The Obama administration is still watching to see if the Egyptian Government is serious about change. So far, they are not convinced. Their end game hasn't altered.

What US policymakers want amounts to the current Egyptian government's pro-Western policy, plus democratic legitimacy, plus stability. They believe for that to happen, peace on the streets is essential and serious negotiations about the path to elections are vital.

They haven't changed their mind about Mr Mubarak: they would still like him to go sooner than September. They just accept that this may not happen.

Mark Mardell: Muddied message for US on Egypt
The Egyptian government auctioned off $2.2bn (£1.55bn) in short-term debt, having cancelled a previous auction last week. It is seeking to revive an economy said to be losing at least $310m a day.

However, the Cairo stock exchange, which was originally supposed to re-open on Monday, will now not resume trading until Sunday 13 February. It has been closed since 27 January, when 70bn Egyptian pounds (£7.3bn; $12bn) was wiped off shares over two days.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12387181

Ah yes, when you try to break a revolt by digging deep into the PATRONAGE system...