Bulgaria's Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Totyu Mladenov. Photo by BGNES
The Bulgarian government's decision to up the minimum wage starging July 1 is based on a stably increasing productivity of workers in the country, argued Bulgarian Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Totyu Mladenov.
Speaking for Darik Radio Saturday, Mladenov said that work productivity has risen with 6.6% for 2010, while for the first three months of 2011 it has risen with 4.9% compared to the same period last year.
"Since the last time the minimum wage was updated January 1, 2009, labor productivity in Bulgaria has risen with 10.4%," said the Social Affairs Minister.
"Thus our move to raise the minimum wage is no populist gesture before elections, but rather part of a well thought out and purposeful policy," argued Mladenov.
End of last week, Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov finally announced that he aggrees to a minimum wage raise from BGN 240 to BGN 270, starting July 1. The measure has to be ratified by Parliament.