Hungarian government announces 8 pc minimum wage hike for 2019, 2020

The minimum wage in Hungary will increase by 8 percent on Jan. 1, the finance minister announced on Sunday.

It will go up by another 8 percent a year later, Mihály Varga told a press conference after a two-year agreement was reached during talks in the permanent conference of employer, employee, and government representatives (VKF).

On January 1, 2019, the increase will bring the gross minimum wage to 149,000 forints (EUR 461) and the guaranteed gross minimum wage — the minimum wage for employees with certain qualifications — to 195,000 forints (EUR 604).

According to a finance ministry statement, all social partners of the government accepted the agreement except for trade union federation MaSzSz.

As we wrote before, labour shortage, in general, has become a serious problem in Hungary in the past years. Lots of people move West in the hopes of better salaries and a better future. This is no different in the health sector, either – lots of nurses and doctors move abroad. Now, it seems like the lack of radiologists in a Budapest hospital has claimed its first victim, read more HERE.

On November we wrote: the wages of health-care sector public workers, district nurses and health-care workers without higher education qualifications will rise by 72 percent over the next four years, the human resources minister said, read more HERE.

Varga hails economic progress in 2018

Hungary’s economy performed well in 2018, with exports exceeding 100 billion euros for the first time, Varga said in this week.

Both the current account and the foreign trade balance showed a surplus, Varga told news channel M1.

The Hungarian economy is in a state of equilibrium and exports continue to be robust, he added.

In addition to European Union funding, the government will invite several tenders funded from domestic resources in 2019, he said. Some of these will be linked to robotics and digitalisation, while others will be offered to firms that have been left out of EU funding because of their size or number of employees.

The state gives 42,500 forints (EUR 130) life-start support deposited at the state treasury to every child to be born in Hungary, he said.

Savings in baby bonds enjoy a very preferential, over 5 percent interest rate, the highest among all state securities, he added.

Varga said the government’s priority scheme is the family home creation support dubbed csok. Since its introduction in 2016, the number of homes built has doubled and the number of home building permits issued tripled.

Home creation support targeted for rural residents is currently being prepared, the minister said.

Source: MTI