Starting today, September 1, salaries, pensions and scholarships in Tajikistan will increase from 10 to 30 percent. The decree on increasing salaries, pensions and scholarships was signed by President Emomali Rahmon on February 8 this year.
This is reported by the press service of the President of Tajikistan, indicating that according to this decree, the minimum wage in all sectors is set at 1,000 somoni per month.
"That is, the monthly salary of employees of all institutions, organizations and enterprises, regardless of the form of ownership, from September 1, 2025, should not be less than 1,000 somoni," the decree says.
Until that time, the minimum wage in the country was 800 somoni.
Thus, according to the presidential decree, salaries of employees in the following industries are increased by the following amounts:
– salaries of employees of preschool institutions and secondary schools – by 30%
– salaries of employees of other educational institutions, including primary, secondary and higher professional education, scientific institutions – by 20%
– salaries of healthcare workers, including chief physicians, doctors, nursing staff and other employees – by 20%
– salaries of social protection workers – medical, administrative and household staff of boarding schools for the disabled and elderly, as well as other institutions in the industry – by 20%
– salaries of cultural workers, including libraries, museums, state theaters, periodicals, television and radio, as well as other institutions – by 20%
– salaries of civil servants of state authorities, government and local self–government bodies – by 20%
– insurance, labor and social pensions, as well as additional payments to them – by 10%
– student scholarships and other types of scholarships, including presidential ones (except for cadets of higher military educational institutions and the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan) – by 20%.
At the expense of what?
Additional funds for the implementation of the presidential decree and, in general, for the payment of salaries, pensions and scholarships are provided in the State Budget for 2025.
According to the government decree, the payroll will be financed from budget funds, free balances, over-fulfillment of the republican budget, local budgets and the budget of the Social Insurance and Pensions Fund.
It is also mentioned that funds from protected budget items, the redistribution of other expenditure items, reserve funds from the state budget and special funds from budget organizations will be used to provide additional financing for budget employees.
The state budget revenues for the current year are planned in the amount of 49.6 billion somoni, about 65% of which should come from tax collections. The authorities plan to increase tax revenues by 20.8% this year.
According to the Ministry of Finance, salaries, pensions and scholarships account for more than 35% of total budget expenditures in 2025. The wage fund in the current year's budget is set at almost 13 billion somoni, which is 35.7% more than in the 2024 budget.
This year's budget provides for more than 5.1 billion somoni for pensions, and 350 million somoni for benefits, which is 25.6% and 25.8% more, respectively, than in last year's budget.
This year's budget includes 280 million somoni for the payment of scholarships, which is 26% more than in the 2024 budget.
It should be noted that Emomali Rahmon gave instructions to raise salaries, pensions and scholarships on December 28, 2024 in his last message to the country's parliament.
It is also worth mentioning that in 2024, by presidential decree, salaries, pensions and scholarships were increased from 30% to 40%.
Despite the increase, low salaries remain one of the main problems of the Tajik population. Along with rising salaries and pensions, the prices of goods on the markets are also rising rapidly. Therefore, citizens perceive an increase in income as an indexation of prices.
