Labour minister Plumb: Minimum wage in Romania possibly at EU level in 2018-2019

The minimum wage in Romania could reach a level comparable to other European Union countries in 2018 or 2018, following several raises; the first one should be on July 1, Labour, Family, Social Protection and Elderly Minister Rovana Plumb declared on Tuesday.

Photo credit: (c) Cristian NISTOR / AGERPRES FLOW

'According to the European Social Charter, the minimum wage should be 50 percent of the average wage in each member state. In our country, there will be several successive raises of the minimum wage; the first one is scheduled on July 1, when it will increase from the current 975 lei to 1050 lei. The next raise is scheduled in January 2016, to 1,200 lei; 1.7 employees will benefit from it; 30 percent of them are in the private sector, and the rest in the public sector. Following the adoption of the new Tax Code and the new Wage Law, we estimate we could have a minimum wage at European Union level in 2018-2019,' the minister said at the 'Wage ? the Last Taboo?' conference.

According to her, Romania now has more employees than pensioners, namely 5,264,000 working people and five million retirees.

She also pointed out Romanians' increasing life satisfaction index of 7.2, higher than the European average of 7.1.AGERPRES