The Minister of Economy and Finance, Max Tonela, admitted yesterday the existence of inconsistencies in the application of the new Single Wage Scale for the State, but guarantees that everything is being done to resolve the issues.

Max Tonela noted that there are several situations of non-compliance and, among the complaints, many have to do with the issue of age and length of service in the career, which creates "distortions that call into question the objectives that led to the application of this procedure," said the minister, moments after the weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers in the Presidency of the Republic in Maputo.

According to the minister, despite constraints observed in its first month of implementation, the government will continue to use the procedure for the payment of salaries, with priority given to state employees who were receiving the minimum wage, which has now risen from 4.656 meticais to 8.756.

"Since the law is in effect, we will proceed with the payment of salaries for the month of July," Max Tonela stressed, adding that in the case of employees who were not covered by the new table due to inconsistencies, payments will be made as soon as possible, retroactively.

The new Single Wage Scale for civil servants has 21 levels, ranging from 8,756 to 165,758 meticais, instead of 103 steps, as was the case previously.

According to data from the Directorate of Public Accounting advanced at the beginning of the month, about 306 thousand employees, 80% out of a total of 382,728 active state employees, were already framed and in a position to receive salaries according to the criteria defined in the new Single Wage Scale.

The document defines that the President of Mozambique receives a monthly salary corresponding to the top 21 steps, plus the representation subsidy equivalent to 40% of the respective salary.

The new Single Wage Scale also aims to harmonize criteria for defining wages in the state, putting at the center of the formula criteria such as academic qualifications, seniority, career and age.