"Boo-yao" or "Fuck-it-it's-money": Unsure in a Public Institution

I got a raise this week, after two years and two months at work. It was a not bad raise, I think, slightly over 10%. However, it was disclosed to me in a peculiar manner: "The opportunity has arisen to raise your salary." What does that mean? I took it to mean that the ministry diverted more funds for salaries, that I wasn't being rewarded for well evaluated achievements. The most important thing at work is money, but the reason it's important is not just that it buys my caviar and sports cars; it's supposed to represnt my value as an employee, which is a significant part of me as a person, since half my life is work. I was disappointed.

My career advisor claims that I'm wrong. She says that statement really was a formal way of saying "Thank God we can finally pay you what you deserve, we've wanted to, but didn't have the opportunity till now." Maybe she's right.

Two days later, after working in the same field as I for just two months at another institution, my special lady also got a raise, congradulations, bigger than mine, double congradulations (I still make more money than she does, "thank God" says my male hormones). She hasn't gotten an explanation for it yet, so we'll see how that goes.