Tags: Sofia Varna Plovdiv raise artificially average salary levels BGN
| People at risk of poverty and social exclusion are over 30% in Bulgaria. A large part of them cannot fully heat their homes – they choose whether to live warm or to eat normally. This was commented in the “Interview in NOVA News” by the Chief Economist of KNSB Lyuboslav Kostov. “65% of working people in Bulgaria cannot reach the net cost of living – BGN 1,454. It is even more worrying that over 1/3 have an income of up to BGN 1,000. Between 20 and 30% of those employed in regional cities and the municipalities around them are on the minimum wage. Sofia, Varna and Plovdiv artificially raise the average salary to BGN 933. This is about 1/4 of the employed and 40% of all employed. According to him, KTD and the unions are raising wages by at least 14%. “About 1.2 million pensioners are around the poverty line – BGN 567. Those who work are in the working poor category. If you work until May 7, you will receive one minimum wage in Luxembourg. For one month, low-skilled workers working on the minimum wage there they get as much as we do in 4.5 months. In Germany, the period with the same condition is 3.5 months. The difference in the purchasing power of our salaries and those in the West is huge,” says Kostov. Among the goals it sets is for the KTD to reach 80% coverage so that the minimum and average wages can increase by at least 14%. |
