Uzbek president raises pensions, public-sector wages

RIA Novosti June 9 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.