Home GCC Kuwait Kuwait seeks $20,000 a month salary cap for senior government staff The government wants to reduce its $50bn annual public sector wage bill by Staff Writer February 28, 2018 Kuwait’s government is moving ahead with plans to cap public sector salaries as it looks to cut costs. Officials want to reduce the government’s $50bn annual wage bill by equalising salaries and incentives for workers before the end of the year. Read: Kuwait to restructure government salaries by 2019 Kuwait Times cited MP Saleh Ashour as confirming government representatives had informed the country’s parliament of a strategy to unify salaries of staff and create 4,000 standardised job descriptions under a payroll bill. A separate bill regulating senior positions is also being finalised to set the maximum salary for senior state positions of assistant undersecretary and higher at KD6,000 ($19,986) a month. This would also see the cancellation of other allowances and benefits, according to the publication. The new job descriptions would only apply to those recruited after the law is passed and published in the official gazette. Ashour said greater clarity on whether the government was “serious” about passing the bills would be known during its next meeting with the parliamentary financial affairs committee. The government has faced opposition to the introduction of new austerity measures as coffers are squeezed by lower oil prices. In April 2016 workers at national oil and gas companies stopped work for three days in protest at proposed cuts to salaries and benefits. Read: Kuwait lost up to $200m during oil strike 0 Comments