According to the Ministry of Finance (MoF), “salaries, wages and related benefits” posted a slight increase of 0.14% in the first half (H1) of 2014, to $1.39B, due to higher payments related to the Mutual Fund of Lebanese University professors, and Government subscription and contributions in the Employees Cooperative. These payments represent the largest component of total primary spending accounting for 30% in H1 2014, compared to 29% in 2013.
Basic salaries, which constitute 74.88% of “Salaries, Wages, and Related Benefits”, edged up by 0.58% to $1.04B. This was mainly driven by the 4.92% rise in salaries of Military personnel (accounting for 64.99% of total salaries) to $678.61M. However, it was partly offset by the 5.11% and 10.06% decreases in salaries for Education and Civil Personnel to $258.71M and $118.74M, respectively.
In contrast, “Indemnities” dropped 7.08% to $69.65M. Indemnities for Military personnel jumped by 5.26% to $26.53M, while that of Education and Civil Personnel declined 15.38% and 11.11% to $21.89M and $21.23M, respectively.