Moldova’s ruling coalition promises higher wages ahead of general election

Moldova’s ruling coalition promises higher wages ahead of general election
The primaria (town hall) in Falesti, northern Moldova. Public sector workers are currently low paid, but can expect substantial wage hikes in the coming months. / Avereanu
By bne IntelliNews October 24, 2018

Moldova’s ruling coalition leader Vlad Plahotniuc on October 23 announced wage hikes “of up to 90% in some cases” across the entire public sector as of December 1, less than three months ahead of the February 24 general elections.

The move is part of the income reform within the sector. The wage hike is perhaps needed as some public sector workers are on extremely low wages, but it takes place at the most favourable time for the ruling party and with no prior public consultation. 

At the same time, local think tank Expert Grup warned in its October 19 quarterly macroeconomic report about the chronic lack of investments (particularly public investments) in Moldova, which is threatening the country’s growth potential.

Wages will increase by 20% or 50% and in some cases by 90%, Plahotniuc announced. Around 150,000 of the 200,000 people working in the public sector will have their wages increased as of December 1. Some 36,000 of them are currently paid less than MDL2,000 that is considered the minimum subsistence income under the statistics office’s calculations. More details will be unveiled in the coming days, Plahotniuc added. 

The income reform will include annual wage hikes, with the next one scheduled for spring 2019.

The wage hike announcement comes after Plahotniuc’s Democratic Party (PDM) organised mass demonstrations in Chisinau in what seemed to be a warm up of the PDM-controlled local administration ahead of the February ballot.

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