Labor Minister Marius Budai said in the parliament that the decision on the minimum wage of 3,000 lei will be made on Wednesday at the tripartite council. According to Buday, 1.3 million Romanians currently receive the minimum wage.

“Tomorrow at the Tripartite Council, we have the sole subject of the minimum gross salary, guaranteed upon payment. We hope to have a solution to be able to move to the next stage, which is the testing of SMEs and the transparency of decision-making (…) As you know, we have given the business environment an amount of 200 lei that it can provide to its employees there, where the state does not levy any taxes. Until now, it was at the disposal of the employer. From now on, we want to introduce it (a sum of 200 lei) into 3,000 lei and continue this practice, namely not to charge them,” Budai explained in the parliament.

According to Budai, 130,000 contracts have been converted so far, which provided an additional 200 lei, somewhere around 10%.

In addition, 1.3 million Romanians currently receive the minimum wage, the minister said, while around 500,000 agricultural and construction workers receive 3,000 lei.

Prime Minister Nicolae Chuke announced that a tripartite meeting to discuss raising the minimum wage for the economy will take place on Wednesday in the government.

“Tomorrow we will hold a tripartite meeting in the Government, and we will establish with the social partners everything related to the increase of the minimum wage,” Chuke said in the parliament.

Asked if the tax-free 200 lei will be kept at the minimum salary of 3,000 lei, Chuke said: “In the version where we stop at 3,000 lei, 200 lei will be included. There will probably be an opportunity where the employer will voluntarily provide 200 lei, more than 3,000 lei.”