Turkey to raise minimum wage by 30 percent: Turkish PM

ANKARA

AA photo

The government will raise the minimum wage in Turkey to 1,300 Turkish Liras per month ($446) from the current 1,000 liras ($343), Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu announced on Dec. 10.

Ankara will also provide help to employers in adopting the wage hike, with Davutoğlu particularly pledging to reduce the burden on small- and medium-sized enterprises.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which won enough seats in the Turkish parliament to form a single-party government in the Nov. 1 election, had promised to raise the minimum wage as part of its campaign manifesto.

In his announcement of the “64th Government Action Plan” on Dec. 10, Prime Minister Davutoğlu also listed reforms ranging from financial support schemes for young entrepreneurs to subsidies in fertilizer and forage for the agriculture sector.

“We will launch a project to support young entrepreneurs who propose projects with cash of up to 50,000 liras ($17,250),” Davutoğlu said, adding that a support scheme for young citizens will also be started, granting interest-free loans up to 100,000 liras ($34.500).

The government also will help employers pay the wages of young people in the first year of their first jobs, according to the plan announced on Dec. 10.

The plan also introduces fundamental changes to the agriculture sector, with the value added tax on forage and fertilizers to be abolished.

“We will fulfill all these promises to our youth, our women, our artisans, our farmers, our workers and all our citizens within three months. You will be witnesses to these [reforms] as we implement them, with God’s permission. We have made promises to our nation; now it is time to keep them,” Davutoğlu said.