Pay hike: Expatriates and Qataris in private sector feel left out

Manama: Qataris working in the private and semi-government sectors are reportedly unhappy that they have been ignored while their compatriots in state jobs have been given hefty salary increments.

Some in the Qatari community have also expressed surprise that while widows, divorcees, orphans and the elderly dependent on state dole for survival continue to get a paltry monthly stipend of QR2,250, state employees have been given higher than expected pay raise, Qatari daily The Peninsula reported on Thursday.

Negative comments and questions on the 60 and 120 per cent pay hikes announced by the state on Tuesday for civil servants and defense personnel flooded the Qatari social networking sites.

"We are also Qataris and we work harder than our fellow countrymen in government jobs, so what wrong we have done that we have not been given any salary raise?" a Qatari asked.

Inflationary pressures

Many commentators said they feared the salary raise would add to inflationary pressures, while some advised the lucky beneficiaries of the pay hike to shun consumerist habits and make savings.

"Invest your savings in the stock market for the long-term," a commentator said, urging younger government employees not to spend recklessly.

However, some bloggers said the salary raise came at a right time amid reports that indebtedness in the community was rising and that people were facing problems to repay huge bank loans. Rising costs of marriage were also a major cause of worry in the community.

Hefty pay hike

"So we hope that the hefty pay hike for state employees would help the younger and unmarried people to afford to marry now," one blogger wrote.

The decision to increase the salaries of its employees was also welcomed by the National Human Rights Committee as a move to boost the living standards of Qataris.

The Statistics Authority said it hoped that the salary increments would enhance the productivity of Qatari public sector employees.

The impact of the raise would be felt in important sectors, mainly health and education, a senior official from the Authority said.

Flush with funds

The banking sector, flush with funds, seems to be gearing up to seize the opportunity to dispense more and more consumer loans to nationals who are eligible to access loans up to QR2m for six years.

Banking industry sources said they hoped an increasing number of state employees who have already taken personal loans would like to top up their loans since their salaries have gone up, the newspaper said.

Expatriates, meanwhile, feel disheartened and left out. People writing on social networking site ‘Qatar Living'.

"Nothing for expatriates," a clearly upset blogger wrote.

"It is the expatriates, accounting for 80 per cent of the country's population, who are actually taking the country forward and yet they are ignored," another blogger wrote.