Bulgaria’s Labor Minister to Push for Minimum Wage Hike

Ivaylo Kalfin, Minister of Labor and Social Policy, has argued that an increase in the monthly minimum wage will give a boost to the economy.

"I do not intend to give up the initiative for increasing the minimum wage," Kalfin stated Thursday in an interview for the morning broadcast of the Bulgarian National Television, just a day after the 2015 draft budget was unveiled, showing the wage was to remain frozen in 2015.

He claimed that there was a lack of long-term vision about the different aspects of the pension reform, adding that he was hoping that agreement would be reached on them in 2015.

He pointed out that the Finance Minister had suggested that the existing plan for increasing the retirement age by 4 months a year be included in draft budget 2015.

Kalfin said that he intended to organize a discussion on pension system reform with trade unions and employers in the first half of 2015.

He noted that the talks with the Finance Minister and the Prime Minister would continue and some parameters of draft budget 2015 could be changed.

"My vision is clear - the pension system must be stabilized and the social system must target people who need help most," Bulgaria's Minister of Labor and Social Policy stated.