Public sector wages in Belarus to increase

The Belarusian government took a decision to gradually raise the base rate starting from March. This decision was formalized by the Council of Ministers’ Resolution No. 194 as of 31 March 2022, BelTA learned from the press service of the Labor and Social Security Ministry.

“In 2022 public sector wages were to be increased in two stages following the rise of the base rate. The first stage started on 1 January 2022 when the base rate went up by 4.5%. The second stage was supposed to begin on 1 September. However, in order to support public sector workers, the government decided to raise the base rate earlier than planned, starting from March,” the press service said.

Thus, in line with the Council of Ministers’ Resolution No. 194 as of 31 March 2022, the following base rates were established: Br208 on 1 March, Br209 on 1 April, Br210 on 1 May. Since incentives and compensations are pegged to the base rate, the increase in the base rate will result in the increase in salaries from Br7 to Br35 in May depending on employee qualifications.

The decision will extend to about 850,000 public sector employees who will receive wages in April.

Br27 million will be allocated from the budget to raise the base rate in March-May.

The base rate is the main element of the tariff system. It is used to calculate salaries of public sector employees and employees  of other organizations receiving subsidies.