TASHKENT, June 9 (RIA Novosti) - Uzbekistan's president has issued a decree rising public-sector wages and welfare benefits in the Central Asian republic by 20% starting July 1, the presidential press office said Friday.
Islam Karimov's decree sets the minimum wage at an equivalent of $10 per month and the minimum old-age and disability pensions at $18.
The amounts of child support, unemployment and other welfare benefits are to be readjusted based on the new minimum wage rate.
The 26-million nation's post-Soviet transition to a liberal market has been painfully slow, and it suffers from wide-spread poverty and unemployment.
