Greece raises minimum wage to 780 euros from April 1

The new minimum wage is set at 780 euros, as announced by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

As Mr. Mitsotakis explained, this is an increase of 9.4% and he added that it will drag up the special allowances as well, such as the unemployment benefit.

As the prime minister pointed out, the increase is at the maximum margin of the country’s possibilities and reminded that the salary in 2019 amounted to 650 euros.

“Which means three extra monthly salaries have been added for 600,000 workers since then,” the PM said.

“I’m under no illusions, I know that wages are still low while being pushed further by imported inflation. I hear it especially from young men and women who are having a hard time,” the prime minister added.
Continuing, he said that “this new increase obviously does not solve the problem but it is a significant relief and above all it indicates our intention to upgrade salaries in both the public and private sectors”.

“I want to emphasize that the final amount that has been agreed is at the upper limit of our capabilities, it is, however, within the capabilities of the businesses that I want to remind that were supported by the government during the pandemic,” the prime minister explained.

Analyzing the reasoning behind the decision, he also stated that the national economy remains in strong growth momentum, stressing that unemployment is declining and taxes are being reduced. To add that “now is the time to support the workers with a new increase in the basic salary”. He closed by saying that “the dividend of development must be reaped fairly by all”.