Minimum wage in Romania to up to 600 lei in January, exceed 870 lei by 2010, new labor minister saysUpdated: 22-12-2008 |

The minimum salary in Romania could be raised starting with January 1 and is estimated to exceed by 20 percent the level of 730 lei agreed by the former government and labor unions for 2010 if Romania weathers the economic crisis, according to the new Labor Minister Marian Sarbu.

The minimum wage could stand under these conditions around 870 lei in January 2010.

"Romania's minimum pay will grow to 600 lei starting with January 1 next year, even though the hike is not mentioned in the governing plan of the new political alliance, because I don't believe this measure could negatively impact the economy; on the contrary, it will increase collections to the social security budget by drawing in employees who work in the grey sector of the economy," said PSD member Sarbu.

According to an agreement inked between the government and the labor unions, the minimum salary was supposed to reach 730 lei by January 2010.

This measure is supported both by the leftists of the Social Democrat Party (PSD) and the right leaning Democrat Liberals (PD-L), who believe an increase to 800 lei of the minimum wage and a cap on the tax base for social security at 6,000 lei could bring an additional 1.5 billion euros to the state budget.

The current governing coalition eliminated from the final reading of their program the measure stipulating a minimum gross wage of 500 euros in 2014 and increasing the nominal gross average salary by 60 percent in the next four years.

The final reading of the program has a 55 percent growth target of the gross average wage until 2012.

The minimum wage stands at 540 lei currently and is to be raised to 600 lei in January, according to law passed by the outgoing Liberal government headed by Calin Popescu Tariceanu.

In six years the legal minimum salary in Romania should reach 1,325 lei or 50 percent of the average income.

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