Romania’s minimum wage will not increase from RON 1,050 to RON 1,200, starting January 1, as the previous Government had announced.

A study is first needed which could show the impact of this growth on Romania’s competitively and the business environment, said Finance Minister Anca Dragu.

She added that the minimum salary increase could determine some employers to move jobs to the gray or black economy and hire without legal forms, to avoid paying higher salaries. The draft state budget for 2016 doesn’t include this increase.

The Finance Minister gave the examples of countries such as Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, where there were many poor people and they all knew to do something for little cash, something that Romanians hadn’t done in a while, she said.

“In vain we want to boost the economy with a package of generous fiscal measures, if we take a measure which destroys the private environment,” the minister added.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: gov.ro)