Finance Minister Gintarė Skaistė hopes that employees and companies will agree on a mutually acceptable solution in the Tripartite Council, which will be the same in Lithuania from 2023. should be the Minimum Monthly Wage (MMA) and the amount of non-taxable income (NPD).
“We hope it will be in the interest of the workers and the company to reach an agreement and find a common solution that seems to suit both parties.” In my opinion, non-taxable income and MMA should increase by a similar amount. We hope that by combining these two dimensions, we can find a solution in the Tripartite Council that will satisfy all parties and meet the challenges of today’s economy,” G. Skaistė told reporters on Monday.
However, the Minister was not keen on naming the specific sizes of MMA and NPD she would like to see from 2023.
“I really wouldn’t like to suggest certain sizes to the Trilateral Council, I hope the Trilateral Council finds some kind of solution that satisfies all parties after evaluating all the risks and opportunities,” the government member said.
The politician hopes that an agreement will be reached, but at the same time the slowing economy and other risks will be taken into account.
“Nevertheless, the risks of the economy looking worse than it looks today need to be assessed. The risks are high enough, one needs to assess not only the level of inflation, but also other challenges ahead. I hope that both companies and employees will seek a common solution”, explained the Minister of Finance.
ELTA recalls that the Tripartite Council formed by the Government, employees and business representatives has decided that each year, in order to depoliticize the process of increasing the minimum wage, this amount is set at 45-50%. average salary (VDU).
According to the agreed methodology, the amount of MMA in 2023 should be determined taking into account the expected average salary of the following year without bonuses and bonuses. This number is multiplied by 5 for the highest ratio of MMA to VDU in 2018-2020. the average of the ratio of MMA and VDU of the EU countries which had – 48.9 percent.
Based on these calculations, at the meeting of the Tripartite Council held in June, the Bank of Lithuania (LB) proposed to increase the MMA from 730 to 867.67 euros from 2023, i.e. 18.9%.
Economy and Innovation Minister Aušrinė Armonaitė said in late August that it is understandable that people’s incomes need to increase, but she suggests not limiting the discussion to raising the minimum monthly wage ( MWM). According to her, the MMA “on paper” could increase by 70 euros, while the tax-exempt income (NPD) could increase by 200 euros.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Gintarė Skaistė claims that such a proposal is not financially balanced. According to her, MMA and NPD should grow at a similar rate.
Source: The Delfi
