Zimbabwe has hiked President Robert Mugabe's annual salary by 265 percent, the official Herald newspaper said on Saturday.
The hike comes in the wake of a series of strikes over the past year by state workers who say pay increases offered by Mugabe's government have not matched soaring living costs.
"The president or acting president now earns Z$73.7 million ($169,118) a year up from Z$20.2 million. In addition, the president or acting president would get a cabinet allowance of Z$2.8 million, up from Z$1.4 million," the Herald said, citing a government notice.
A copy of the notice was not available on Saturday. Zimbabwe is in economic decline with inflation of over 600 percent and unemployment at 70 percent. Critics say that is a result of 24 years of mismanagement by Mugabe's government.
Last year Mugabe's salary went up by more than 580 percent, prompting an outcry from the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change which accuses him of running down a once-thriving economy since assuming power at independence from Britain in 1980.
On Saturday media reported a chronic fuel shortage which has plagued the country since 1999 had resurfaced. Oil companies said there was a critical lack of foreign currency for imports.
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