PRESIDENT Abdelaziz Bouteflika has agreed to a 33% rise in Algeria’s minimum wage and a 15% increase in civil service salaries from January 1, officials said. The increases, however, fell short of levels agreed in talks among the government, trade unions and employers last week – a 66% hike in the minimum wage, and a 25% increase for civil service employees. The income-boosting measures were sought to help redress a dramatic drop in purchasing power in Algeria over the last six years amid an economic crisis linked to a liberalisation program to dismantle the country’s heavily centralised economy. The reforms, at the behest of the International Monetary Fund, have seen about 1 000 state-run businesses shut down with the loss of nearly 400 000 jobs, pushing unemployment to around 30%. The current minimum wage is insufficient to buy a daily loaf of bread and bottle of milk for each member of a seven-person family. Half of Algeria’s 30 million people are living below the poverty line, according to official estimates. – AFP