When will civil servants' salaries match the cost of living?

HON. TSVANGIRAI: Thank you Madam Speaker. Looking at the cost of living, a point which was raised by the Hon. Member, the problem we have is that the cost of living is being caused by the fact that everything in the market, the price of fuel has risen as well as the prices of food but the salaries were not improved to raise the cost of living. My question to the Minister is, what measures does the Ministry have to ensure that the salaries, especially those of the nurses or the civil servants are improved to match or suit the cost of living? Thank you. *HON. D. K. MNANGAGWA: Thank you Madam Speaker. It is good because this issue is being raised when we are going towards the issue of the budget. We are going to use the formula to look at the salaries so that it can range between 50 to 55% of the money we collect through taxation. If we get more, it then means that the Government is not functioning well. What we want is that when we are collecting all the money as Government, we must widen the tax net without increasing taxes. This will enable us to increase the salaries when we are approaching the times that are coming. We will also look into the fact that are we able to increase the salaries through what we get as Government. Thank you. HON. MUROMBEDZI: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. I would like to thank the H