The government is upping the payments made to retired and disabled civil servants, according to a July 31 subdecree by Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Mut Khiev, secretary of state at the Ministry of Social Affairs, said the payments stand between 200,000 and 300,000 riel per month (about $50 to $75). But under the new sub-decree – which is back-dated to April 1 – recipients at the lower end of the pay scale would collect an additional 20,000 riel, those in the middle would collect another 40,000, and those at the upper end would receive another 60,000.

“We know that the wage was not proportionate to the current situation of living conditions,” he said, adding that a plan was also in the works to increase the base retirement pay to 400,000 riel by 2018, he said.

Opposition spokesman Yim Sovann said his party supported the payments but maintained that the best way to improve former civil servants’ quality of life was to pay higher wages in “proportion with current market prices”.