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Romanian Fin Min Rejects Minimum Wage Hike

Romanian minister of economy and finance Varujan Vosganian said Monday he rejects unions' demands for the increase of the minimum wage to 540 lei (EUR1=RON 3.6066), on failing to meet the inflation target and labor productivity criteria.
Romanian Fin Min Rejects Minimum Wage Hike
07 iul. 2008, 13:03, English

"I stand by my initial position. We must meet three conditions in order to increase the minimum wage, but only we met one," Vosganian said at a seminar.

The three criteria needed for the governmnt to up the minimum wage were gross domestic product grwoth, inflation and labor productivity, and Romania only met its economic growth target.

Some one hundred unionists protested Wednesday in front of ministries of Labor and Finance, asking the Government to increase the minimum wage from RON500 to RON540 as of July, as agreed in December last year.

The government and unions and employers agreed in December to set the minimum wage at RON500 in the fist half of the year, and increase it to RON540 as of the second half, if macroeconomic indicators allow it.

Romania’s consumer price index picked up 0.49% on the month in May, on higher prices for food products and fuels, in line with analysts’ expectations, taking the annual rate at 8.46%, from 8.62% in April.