2024-08-13 20:38:35
Starting next year, the minimum wage should be 15.4% higher and become BGN 1,077, the unions calculated.
The calculations are based on the data of the National Statistical Institute (NSI) on the level of the average salary in the country in the second quarter and the mechanism adopted a year and a half ago for determining the minimum wage.
According to the rules, the minimum wage is now calculated as 50% of the average gross wage for four quarters going back to the middle of this year.
And after the increase, when the taxes on the minimum wage are paid, the people who receive it will still receive just under BGN 1,000.
“This money will not allow us to catch up with the level of minimum wages in other countries, but it will allow us to compensate for the lag that happened in recent years,” commented Lyuboslav Kostov, chief economist of KNSB.
However, according to the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce (BCC), our country must comply with the EU directive on the minimum wage.
“If it is calculated according to the directive, it would keep the same amount as this year, BGN 933,” announced Shteryo Nozharov from BSK.
According to the Chamber of Commerce, the directive requires inflation, which is now low, as well as labor productivity, to be taken into account when determining the minimum wage.
A government decree on the new minimum wage is expected in September, writes bTV.
From the NSI data on the average salary announced yesterday, it is clear that it is growing, but the difference between that in the capital and the rest of the country is also growing.
In Sofia, the average gross remuneration is BGN 3,129, while in Varna, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora, it is about BGN 1,000 less.
The salary in Vratsa also remains high because of the workers at the Kozloduy NPP. The lowest average salaries remain in Blagoevgrad, Smolyan and Kyustendil.