ARMENIA HAS LOWEST MINIMUM WAGE IN EUROPE
/ARKA/
29 October, 2012
YEREVAN
YEREVAN, October 29. / ARKA /. According to the EU’s statistical
agency, the Eurostat, Armenia has the lowest minimum wage across
the continent, Mikael Melkumyan, an MP from the Prosperous Armenia
Party, told a news conference today. Mr. Melkumyan, who is the deputy
chairman of a parliament committee on economic affairs, said according
to Eurostat, Armenia occupies the last place in terms of the minimum
wage in Europe and is third in the CIS after Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
The government of Armenia on September 27 approved a bill to raise
the minimum monthly wage from 32,500 drams to 35,000 drams. The bill
is expected to come into force from next January.
According to him, the minimum wage in Armenia should not be below
the subsistence level.
“Raising the minimum wage by only 2,500 drams (less than $7) is not
enough for citizens to meet their minimum food needs … The minimum
wage must not be lower than the minimum consumer basket, that is,
not less than 55,000 drams,” he said.
He said the minimum wage can be increased by shifting the tax burden
on large companies, increasing the size of environmental tax for the
mining industry. According to him, the annual volume of production
in this sector is about 23-24 million tons of ore, but the amount of
environmental taxes is meager.
According to the National Statistical Service of Armenia, the cost
of living in Armenia in the second quarter of 2012 decreased by 4.1%
compared to the first quarter to 53,000 drams. The cost of living in
the average annual prices rose to 63,687 drams ($ 1-405,3 drams). -0-
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
