Calculation formula and a periodic increase in the minimum wage, the levels of unemployment and employment, the money in the budget for next year and the increase in the price of food products commented the Chief Economist of KNSB Luboslav Kostov in the studio of “The Live Day” on NovaNews.
"The working poor are over 11%. Last year they were around 10%, now they have increased, despite the increase in the minimum wage. You can't work and be poor – "It's an oxymoron," he says. According to him, there is a mass one-child model and a demographic crisis in Bulgaria: "We are decreasing by 50 thousand people every year".
"Employment is 77%, and the unemployment rate is close to its natural rate," Kostov also said. According to him, there are moral, social and economic arguments for what is happening now.
The economist presented data that show that in the last 3 years in Bulgaria the value of the minimum wage has increased by 43%. "For comparison: in Turkey it grew by 64%, in Albania by 63%, Montenegro – 60%, Romania – 59%, Poland – 61%, Serbia – 50% These are countries with similar nominal income levels," he added.
"In these same three years, the minimum wage in Germany – 1,700 euros, up 30%. This 30% is equal to the minimum wage in Bulgaria. If you're asking us when we'll catch up – we will not catch up with them with this salary increase. Until the business understands that the era of cheap labor is over and that this is not a competitive advantage, this is how we will drive it," said Kostov.