Romania’s dismissed Govt. plans to hike minimum statutory wage

Romania’s outgoing Government announced that it plans to increase the minimum statutory wage by RON 100 (EUR 21) as of January 2020, in line with the strategy of the Social Democratic Party (PSD).

The Government order will be published for public consultations on October 23, labor minister Marius Budai announced, adding that he had previously discussed this with prime minister Viorica Dancila and finance minister Eugen Teodorovici, local Adevarul reported.

The minimum gross statutory wage is currently RON 2,080 (EUR 438), or RON 2,350 (EUR 495) for employees with higher education. The change in tax regulations make irrelevant the comparison of gross wages, but the net wage in Romania increased by 54% from RON 925 at the end of 2016 when PSD won the parliamentary elections to RON 1,429 (for an employee with a kid and higher education).

The consumer prices have increased by some 10% over the past three years. The real net minimum wage thus increased by nearly 12% per year in real terms (constant prices) over the past three years.

(Photo source: Gov.ro)