2023-06-15 06:49:06
The average monthly salary of teachers working in public educational institutions in Baku was 909 manats in the 2022-2023 academic year, the city education department announced.
In the last 4 months, according to official statistics, the average monthly salary in Azerbaijan was 900 manats.
According to the information of the State Statistics Committee, during the first three months of this year, the average monthly salary of wage earners in the country’s economy increased by 11.4 percent compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.
Although the average monthly salary is 900 manats, inflation has also increased adequately. According to the information of the Central Bank, inflation was 13.8 percent in the first 3 months.
But, in general, does the average monthly salary of 900 manats reflect real income?
According to some independent economists, when analyzing the prices and expenses offered by businesses in the country, it can be concluded that some incomes are not formalized and this is not reflected in the wage fund, otherwise the average monthly salary should be higher.
“For example, the average monthly salary in Baku is close to 1,000 manats, and the paid commercial mortgage is at least 800-1,000 manats. Here, too, the question arises, where does this person get the food and utility expenses?” – economist Natig Jafarli told BBC Azerbaijan.
The State Statistics Committee told the BBC that in addition to official salaries in the public and private sectors, all additional, bonus and awards are included in the salary fund, and this is reflected in the total average monthly salary.
Because he recently gave an interview to Mehman Huseynova reprimanded MP Vahid Ahmadov does not rule out that there are unofficial incomes, but according to him, as a result of the reforms, “black accounting becomes white” and salaries are increased, especially in state enterprises, to prevent corruption.
What is in the decree “hidden” from the public?
Starting from last year, salary increases have been started in a number of state institutions in the country. In June last year, raising the salaries of ordinary members of parliament to about 7 thousand manats drew attention to how much the real salaries should be in the country.
The salary of deputies was increased at least 8 times compared to the average monthly salary at that time.
The salary of the prime minister and the persons holding high positions in the state institutions has also increased significantly, the reporter of BBC Azerbaijan got acquainted with the decree No. 1609 showing the salary increase in the Presidential library, in the March 2022 edition No. 3 of the “Legislative Collection of the Republic of Azerbaijan”.
That decree was not posted on Internet resources, but it was mentioned in the decree of the same name of 2004 that by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan No. 1609 dated March 1, 2022, “1-4 and 6 parts are cancelled”.
These canceled parts deal with the salary of the Prime Minister and other heads of the executive structure.
Followers posted the salaries of the Prime Minister and other executives on Internet resources, but were not shown to have been crossed out and canceled. In the 2018 decree they can see. However, after the 2018 decree entered into force, it was indicated that some provisions were canceled by crossing out the relevant parts in the electronic form of the previous decree. It is not known whether the new decree supersedes the 2018 decree.
BBC could not get information about the salary increase from the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers.
According to Decree No. 1609 dated March 1, 2022, the salaries of the Prime Minister, his deputies, ministers, their deputies and other high-ranking officials have changed significantly.
For example, the salary of the Prime Minister, which was 2,460 manats in 2018, is now 3,690 manats. In addition, according to Decree No. 1609, he receives an additional amount of twice the official salary. This is about 11 thousand manats without taxes and other deductions.
This also applies to the first and other deputies of the Prime Minister. Thus, the salary of the first deputy of the Prime Minister increased from 2160 manats to 3260 manats. The monthly income of the 1st deputy, together with a 2-fold increase of the position salary (without taxes and other social deductions), is around 10,000 manats.
In this set of decrees, the salary increase of other officials is noteworthy. For example, according to the decree that came into force in January of last year, the head of the security service of the President of Azerbaijan received 3,000 manats, his first deputy received 2,310 manats, and 25 percent of the monthly salary.
In the same year, the US Embassy in Azerbaijan announced a vacancy for the job of a driver. This driver was offered about 2300 AZN as a monthly salary, while the monthly salary for another visa assistant vacancy was 4500 AZN.
“The real minister’s salary has been revealed”
“The public of the country learned about the real income of state officials during the “Communication Case” trial held a few years ago,” Ali Ahmadov, the head of the fed.az website, told the BBC. In 2019, he conducted a study on the real income of ministers.
“For the first time, it has been openly admitted in this court that the minister and his deputies received fantastic sums of money every month for their livelihood in addition to their official salaries. Deputy ministers are provided with a “package” of 30,000 manats, and the minister 300,000 manats per month. However, the official salaries of the deputies were 20 times less than this amount, and the minister’s salary was almost 150 times less,” said Ali Ahmadov.
According to him, the official salaries of the ministers were compared with the real market prices in the country at that time, and it was found that, for example, a minister who receives a salary of around 2,000 manats would not be motivated to perform his duties in a quality way, nor would he be able to make ends meet with this income: “After all, the official salary intended for ministers is easily earned by loan specialists in banks.
Ali Ahmadov believes that the balance between the official salary of high-ranking officials and the burden of responsibility imposed on them has been broken: “This issue is still relevant now. “In the trials of the officials in the MTN case, the recently arrested executive heads, it appears that there was a big gap between their official salaries and their real incomes.”
According to our interviewee, 7-8 thousand AZN can be considered a normal salary for a minister, because during their tenure they have additional privileges and opportunities by law: for example, they use their service salary: “The salary of officials should be such that they do not seek income from outside, because outside income is a as a rule, it is illegal. The salary he receives should cover his expenses, but he should also be able to receive a high pension when he retires. He should not think about how he will live.”
Bbc
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