The government of Zimbabwe has raised salaries for her government workers by 50 percent on Wednesday, hours after nurses stopped work at a major government hospital in the capital Harare, demanding to be paid in dollars because of soaring inflation.
Workers fear the country is returning to the 2008 era when a bout of hyperinflation rendered salaries and savings worthless. The government brought back the Zimbabwe dollar last June.
Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said in a statement the salary rise would take immediate effect, adding that workers would also get a monthly allowance of $75.
Inflation has risen to 785 percent. The price of bread and sugar increased by at least 30 percent this week alone.
A woman collects groceries from a warehouse during the coronavirus lockdown in Harare, Zimbabwe, where many fear the country is returning to the 2008 era when a bout of hyperinflation rendered salaries worthless.
Report has it that the nurses began their protest despite concerns about the effect on Zimbabwe’s fight against COVID-19, which has infected 401 people and killed four in the southern African country.
Anti-riot police blocked the entrance to Parirenyatwa Hospital in Harare as hundreds of nurses forcefully found their way in. Meanwhile the Zimbabwe Nurses Association Secretary-General Enock Dongo in his comments said that the least-paid nurses were earning a net monthly salary of 2,000 Zimbabwe dollars and warned that the boycott could continue beyond Wednesday and spread to other hospitals.
With the Zimbabwe dollar fixed at 25 to the United States dollar but trades at around 80 on the black market. Businesses calculate prices using black market rates. Africa-News reports.