Article 7 of the same law stipulated that:

1-    From January 1, 1999, the adoption of the minimum wage as a leading index in all legal and regulatory texts shall be cancelled and replaced by an amount of LBP 300,000 to which the equivalent of half the annual inflation rate reported by Banque du Liban is to be added. This rate is approved following a Cabinet decree issued on the proposal of the Minister of Finance. 

 

2-    The index is to be reconsidered annually based on:

-    An amount of LBP 300,000

-    Half the accrued inflation rate determined according to clause 1 above.

 

The rate was not duly approved by a decree and the minimum wage of LBP 300,000 remained the criterion used to calculate indemnities. The inflation rates reported by Banque du Liban from 1999 were as follows:
 

If the equivalent of half the current inflation rate were adopted and added to LBP 300,000, the index figure would become LBP 371,000.  However, if the civil servants’ minimum wage were raised (see table 2 below) from LBP 500,000 to LBP 675,000, to which figure should one refer when calculating the allowances: LBP 371,000 or LBP 675,000? The answer to this question would yield different outcomes and increases in the worth of the allowances paid to civil servants, particularly the family allowance determined by Decree no. 10110 dated March 22, 2013 which states:

-    20% of the minimum wage for the spouse;

-    11% of the minimum wage for each child.

 

A family consisting of a husband, a wife and three children would thus be entitled to an allowance of LBP 357,750 if we were to adopt LBP 675,000 as minimum wage. In contrast, the allowance would drop to LBP 197,000 if the minimum wage was set at LBP 371,000, i.e. down by LBP 160,000 every month.

 

Are we witnessing legislative confusion or is it just a matter of contrasting interpretations? And either way, is it possible to concur on a minimum wage to be used as a fixed criterion in the calculation of allowances?