PM mocks pay-rise promises

Prime Minister Hun Sen mockingly declared that opposition pledges to increase the salaries of civil servants marked the arrival of “the season of promises” ahead of next year’s elections, during a speech yesterday. The premier deemed boosting salaries by reducing tax losses attributed to graft unfeasible  because corrupt people were not forthright about their activities, adding that no one would lend the Kingdom money to lift wages – leaving only the option of taxing farmers to finance such a raise. .. Cambodian teachers, bureaucrats and members of the armed forces can earn as little as $50 per month, but in a recent report by state news agency Agence Kampuchea Presse, Deputy Prime Minister Sok An was quoted as saying civil servant salaries had risen by 540 per cent since 2001. …

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