Figures issued by the Ministry of Finance show that the compensation of public-sector personnel totaled $1.7bn in the first quarter of 2020, constituting an increase of 0.6% from $1.68bn in the same period of 2019. Salaries, wages and related benefits accounted for 63.8% of the total in the first three months of 2020, followed by retirement benefits (27.6%), and end-of-service indemnities and transfers to public institutions to cover salaries (4.3% each). The compensation of public-sector personnel represented the largest component of current primary spending and accounted for 66% of such expenditures in the first quarter of 2020, compared to 76.5% in the same period of 2019. Also, the compensation of public-sector personnel absorbed 76.1% of total fiscal receipts in the covered period relative to 65.4% in the first quarter of 2019. It accounted for 43.7% of overall fiscal spending in the first three months of 2020 compared to 47.5% in the same period of 2019.

Salaries, wages & related benefits paid to public-sector employees reached $1.1bn in the covered period, constituting an increase of 6.7% from $1bn in the first quarter of 2019. This category includes basic salaries, employment benefits, allowances, contributions to civil servants' cooperatives, as well as contributions to other mutual funds providing health insurance for specific categories of civil servants, mainly civil and religious judges, and employees at the Parliament. In addition, retirement benefits grew by 9.3% annually to $468.3m in the first quarter of 2020, and transfers to public institutions to cover salaries rose by 41% year-on-year to $73.6m, while end-of-service indemnities declined by 62.1% annually to $72.3m in the covered period.