The Zimbabwean government has awarded its workers a 50% pay rise and an allowance to cushion them against hardships caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the finance ministry announced Wednesday.

“With immediate effect all civil servants’ salaries will be adjusted upwards by 50%,” the ministry said, adding that the hike also applies to pensions.

“In addition all civil servants will be paid a flat non-taxable COVID-19 allowance of US$75 dollars per month,” it said in a statement.

Zimbabwe has been battling to pay its 300 000 plus civil servants who earlier this year declared they could no longer report for duty, saying galloping inflation had eroded their pay such that they could no longer afford the daily commute to work nor a decent meal a day.

Annual inflation rose to 785.55% in May, according to figures released by Zimstat, the national statistics agency this week.

The country has registered 401 cases of the coronavirus including four deaths.

With more than 90% of the population relying on small-time informal trading in the streets, many are experiencing hardship after President Emmerson Mnangagwa imposed a virus lockdown on 30 March ordering vendors off the streets to as a measure to limit the spread of the virus.

Source:TheSouthAfrican