PM Orban: Government's goal, to approve by end of month decision on minimum wage

The Government's objective is to approve by the end of this month the decision concerning the minimum wage, said Prime Minister Ludovic Orban on Monday.

"We have already received an analysis and we are waiting for the impact study to be completed. Tomorrow, as far as I know, the Tripartite Council is convened for a first discussion, we will come with our analysis and, obviously, with some proposals between margins regarding the increase of the minimum wage. We certainly have to take into account objective factors, namely the productivity growth index, the average gross wage increase, the inflation rate, but at the same time we must also take into account the impact that the raise of the minimum wage may have on the profitability of the companies in several branches where many employees collect the minimum wage, so that the increase of the labor cost does not affect the profitability of the respective branches. Of course we will come up with a formula, we will negotiate and, as we have committed ourselves, our goal is to give the government decision regarding the minimum wage by the end of the month," said Ludovic Orban at the end of the working visit he made on the site of Giulesti Stadium.

Asked if there are several options regarding the minimum wage, namely for higher and secondary education, the prime minister said: ''It is very difficult for me to tell you at the moment, what I can clearly tell you is that there can be only one minimum wage."

"The concept of minimum wage is substantiated, so that there cannot be more forms of minimum wage. (...) In the future, not now the increase of the minimum wage will surely have to be thought in relation to a specific economic branch; as you know, the increase of the productivity index differs from one branch to another and, in a way, the increase of this parameter has to translate into the increase of the minimum wage. As such, for the future, not now, for 2020, we will think of a regulation that the European Commission has been asking us to hammer out since 2015," said Orban