PM Mitsotakis to make announcements on the minimum wage

The Greek Prime Minister, Mr Kyriakos Mitsotakis, will make announcements on the increase of the minimum wage, on Wednesday, at 19:00, the prime minister’s press office said.

Earlier, a meeting with the Greek Labor Minister, Mr Kostis Hatzidakis, was held, at 12:30, at the Maximos Mansion. During this meeting, they discussed the experts’ suggestion regarding the increase of the minimum wage.

As OT.gr has written, the Greek government seems determined to promote a high increase that will lead the new minimum wage in the range of 703 to 710 euros.

In the same direction, the president of the Center of Planning and Economuic Research, Professor Panagiotis Liargovas, proposes the “restoration of the purchasing loss of the low paid”, estimating that “the increase should at least cover the average inflation of the year”, which he sets above 5%.

The level of wage increases combined with subsidies for electricity and gas bills are part of government interventions to tackle price hikes.

So, there will be an increase of: either 6% and a new minimum of 703 euros, or 7% and a new minimum wage of 710 euros. According to the government scenario, the minimum wage increase for 2022 – combined with 2% – will be close to or even exceed the ​​GDPincrease, which was 8.3% last year.

In contrast to this development, there is a huge gap between the views of employers and employees. The Helenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) and the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE) seem to be insisting on a maximum increase of 3% or 4%, while representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises have reservations about the impact of labor costs on the viability of their businesses.

At the same time, the General Confederation of Greek Workers – GSEE insists on restoring the minimum wage to 751 euros from 663 euros – a fact that corresponds to an increase of about 13%.