Gov’t to review minimum wage in July: Minister

ISTANBUL

The government will reconsider the minimum wage level in July, Labor and Social Security Minister Vedat Bilgin has said.

He noted that inflation has started to decline but prices continue to increase.

“We will reevaluate this [minimum wage] in July and set the minimum wage at a level which will protect workers. We are carrying out a study on purchasing power,” Bilgin said in an interview with private broadcaster A Haber.

The minimum wage was hiked from 5,500 Turkish Liras to 8,500 liras ($437) in January.

Treasury and Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati said on April 28 that the annual inflation rate is expected to be less than 50 percent in April.

“We will gradually reduce inflation to single digits,” he added.

The Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) will release the inflation data for April on May 3.

The labor union Türk-İş calculated that the poverty line of a family of four increased from 31,200 liras to 33,000 liras in April.

Food expenditure of a family of four, which the union describes as the “hunger line,” rose from 9,600 to 10,140 liras.

The annual inflation rate, which hit 85.5 percent in October, slowed from 55.1 percent in February to 50.5 percent in March.

The government is also working on pensions, he added, noting that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will unveil the details.

There are around 15 million pensioners in Türkiye and 9.5 million of them receive less than 7,500 liras in pension payment, Bilgin said.