CAIRO: Egypt’s government will raise the minimum wage paid by the private sector to 3,500 Egyptian pounds ($113) a month as of Jan. 1, according to a decision published in the official gazette on Monday. The last time the government increased the minimum wage was on July 1, when it set it at 3,000 pounds. Headline inflation in Egypt has risen sharply over the past two years, reaching a record 38 percent in September before slipping to 35.6 percent in November.