Czech soldiers will receive an overall pay rise by 1,500 crowns as of the beginning of next year, Defence Minister Lubomir Metnar (for ANO) has told journalists, citing a decree the government approved yesterday.
The soldiers with the lowest rank of private will have their base pay increased in the same way as the minimum wage. However, the decision on its rise has not yet been made.
The 1,500-crown pay rise is the same as that of civil servants, with the exception of teachers, whose pay is to rise more steeply. Talks on the salaries of police and other security forces members are still underway, but they are likely to be raised by 1,500 crowns, too.
Newly the lance corporal will be paid 26,850 a month, the staff sergeant 34,580 and a major 57,920 crowns a month. The army general, the highest military rank, will be paid 130,070 crowns.
Metnar said when raising the salaries, one had to take into account the economic situation of the Czech Republic. "The soldiers' incomes are constantly growing. I think that this is a lucrative, well-paid job," he added.
The planned pay rise will cost about 686 million crowns within the Defence Ministry budget. The budget bill, debated in the Chamber of Deputies, reckons with the increased expenditures.
Along with the base pay, career soldiers are eligible for various bonuses. The average gross salary of a career soldier is over 40,000 crowns, Vlastimila Cyprisova, from the general staff press department, said.
At January 1, 2019, the Defence Ministry employed 25,104 career soldiers. The average gross salary rose by 7.2 percent to 34,105 crowns in the Czech Republic by mid-year.
