Minimum salary, likely to be increased
The minimum salary might go up by 7% in Romania, the government has announced.
Daniela Budu, 21.11.2019, 13:55
The minimum salary in Romania might be raised if calculated based on the inflation rate and the consumer price index, Liberal PM Ludovic Orban has announced. The government will decide next week, after talks with the social partners, the exact level of the increase, which the government sees at around 7.2%. Thus, the minimum salary might go up from 435 euros at present to 455 euros, next year. The announced increase is below the one promised by former PM Viorica Dancila. Trade unions have asked minimum salaries to go up to 42 euros, while employers’ associations fear that this move may jeopardize their businesses.
Deputy PM Raluca Turcan, has explained: “The raise of the minimum salary will be based on at least two indicators, namely, work productivity and inflation rate, so that this increase in the minimum salary should strengthen, in time, the purchasing power and should be sustainable in the economic sector.”
For the time being, the drop in the value of the domestic currency as against the euro has weakened the purchasing power. In the field of education, salaries will go up as of January 1st, 2020, in keeping with the law, the PM has said. In a discussion with the trade unions, PM Orban has promised the amounts allotted to education will increase gradually, in order to get closer to the target of 6% of the GDP. The head of the Federation of Free Trade Unions in Education, Simion Hancescu, has talked about the salary increases that should be made next year.
Simion Hancescu: “First of all, we are interested in how the state budget for next year will be drawn up and whether the government observes the legal provisions as regards financing. The promise is to gradually increase allocations to the education sector, as allotting directly 6% is more difficult to do. We also discussed about the two-stage raise in salaries next year, on January 1st and on September 1st. It remains to be seen what happens in September, but the salary raise in January is certain.”
In Romania, almost one third of the employees receive the minimum wage, which is one of the smallest in the EU. The level of the minimum wage should also be considered in the drawing up of next year’s state budget. The projects will be submitted to Parliament in the first half of next year.
(Translated by Elena Enache)
