The Myanmar government decided on Saturday to raise the salaries of government employees to a large margin, an order of the Ministry of Finance and Revenue said.

Effective from April 1, the start of the next fiscal year 2006- 07, the monthly salaries will be increased sharply by a range from nearly six times to 12.5 times for the lowest-pay-earning basic workers to government officials of ranks of managing director, the order said.

The salary of an ordinary worker was 3,500 kyats (about 3.18 U. S. dollars), while that for a managing director stood at 16,000 kyats (14.54 dollars) before the order was issued.

The raising of the salaries is aimed at improving the welfare of the civil servants as well as being made as a gesture marking the country's upcoming Armed Forces Day which is falling on next Monday, the order added.

Source: Xinhua