Togolese government to pay one-month salary advance to its agents amid soaring inflation
Monday, 03 January 2022 15:25 
(Togo First) - In Togo, civil servants in the public and parapublic sectors, as well as pensioners, will get a one-month salary advance this week. The wage will be reimbursed in monthly installments throughout the rest of the year.
The instruction was given by President Gnassingbé who announced it last Thursday during his new year address to the nation. The measure aims to help public servants cope with the inflation that persisted in 2021 and increased in November.
This is a breath of fresh air that should be accompanied by another battery of "vigorous price control actions" after the measures taken since the beginning of the second half of 2021 to curb the negative impacts of soaring prices, said the Head of State; a galloping inflation felt globally, and particularly at the regional level, attributed to the Covid-19.
"In response to this phenomenon [the persistence of inflation induced by the Covid, editor's note], the government took urgent measures since the start of the school year, which consisted of making school fees free in secondary education and taking charge of one month's electricity bill for the social classes," Faure Gnassingbé said.
"We have also maintained price subsidies, particularly for fertilizer, agricultural equipment, and wheat. The government has continued to reduce the cost of connection to drinking water for the most vulnerable households," he added.
Another social measure announced by the Togolese leader concerns retirement. In effect, for all those who retired from 2020, "the expected payment of allowances equivalent to three months' salaries will be made from January," Gnassingbé declared.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
