The minimum wage should rise gradually, as excessive reliance on automatic increases could undermine Bulgaria’s economic competitiveness, Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Pekanov told bTV on Friday.
He said higher labour costs were not necessarily harmful because they also compensated for years in which wages had failed to keep pace with inflation.
Earlier on Friday, Progressive Bulgaria (PB) Floor Leader Petar Vitanov said the minimum wage would increase by more than 6.5%, while public-sector salaries would rise by over 5%.
Pekanov said minimum wage levels ranging from EUR 660 to EUR 670 were under discussion. He called for a balance between social policy and what the State could afford, given budget constraints and the need to reduce the deficit.
A number of payments were indexed to the minimum wage, so any increase would also raise government expenditure, he said. Social spending had been protected and increased, Pekanov added.
Talks were continuing, with the government’s proposal near the upper end of the range under the current mechanism, he said. The opposition’s demand for EUR 690 reflected its interpretation of the rules, he added.
The government was pursuing gradual fiscal consolidation while maintaining social spending and following a moderate centre-left policy, Pekanov said. Trade unions naturally sought higher incomes for workers, but decisions had to reflect what Bulgaria’s economy could sustain, he added.
Bulgaria could not cut capital expenditure on important projects because investors paid close attention to road infrastructure, motorway construction and energy system modernization, Pekanov said. Efforts were also under way to streamline public administration, with some ministries already cutting between 100 and 150 posts.
Turning to the EU budget, Pekanov said the Irish Presidency had proposed reducing its overall size while preserving regional development funding, including cohesion funds. “This is acceptable to us because these are the funds we receive for all the important projects,” he said.
Pekanov said the European Commission’s new approach would shift part of this funding from guaranteed allocations to individual member states into a common competitiveness fund, where companies would compete for financing.
This could put Bulgaria at a disadvantage, he said, because scale would matter and competitors would include companies equipped with the latest technologies and capable of competing with US and Chinese firms.
Deputy PM Pekanov Urges Gradual Minimum Wage Increases THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-10-16 17:21:36
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