PM Tudose announces minimum wage rise as of Jan. 1, 2018

Premier Mihai Tudose said on Friday that he will issue a government resolution to raise the minimum wage beginning January 1, 2018 and that the move shall be pinpointed in the budget blueprint to be completed in ten days at the most.

Asked when will the government raise the national minimum wage to 1,900 lei, the PM said that "it will be pinpointed in the budget and will come into force on January 1," adding that the relevant government resolution will be issued "concomitantly with the draft budget, which will be ready in ten days at the most". 

Asked whether there will be amendments in Parliament, in the light of the document analyzed and approved on Friday by PSD's National Executive Committee regarding the 100 measures implemented in 10 months of governing, Tudose pointed out that following the discussion he had at party and coalition level, a final clarification with business milieu representatives will be held next week. "And at least as regards the two subjects - the IT sector and whether the threshold for a 1 pct single tax should be 500,000 or one million euro - the provisions will be introduced by amendments in Parliament," Tudose added. 

Premier Tudose and PSD Chairman Liviu Dragnea also assured that no mayoralty will have its budget trimmed, but quite the contrary, "the budget will be at least equal to the budget you had in 2017," the PM said. 

"So there is no reason for the tax rate to be increased in 2018 as an effect of the Emergency Ordinance amending the Tax Code, at least for several reasons, of which one is very simple: the state budget law will ensure to all local authorities a level of incomes at least equal to that of 2017. So there is no reason to increase these taxes, the [authorities] have freedom of action. Some will have higher incomes than in 2017," completed PSD head Liviu Dragnea.