Portugal's socialist government announced on Wednesday that the minimum wage will increase by approximately 6% in 2020, and committed to increasing it by 25% within four years. The total amount will rise to 740 euros per month over 12 months, compared to 700 currently. “This increase is in line with our economic and social situation, and it is fully compatible with our legislative goal,” Prime Minister Antonio Costa announced, explaining that this increase will be approved on Thursday in the Council of Ministers.
After coming to power in 2015, and then reappointed during the last legislative elections in October, António Costa committed to increasing the minimum wage every year to reach a cumulative increase of 25% in 2023. The goal is for 2023,” the Minister indicated in the morning. Work by Ana Mendes Godinho.
“This is a very ambitious goal,” criticized the head of the Portuguese Enterprise Federation, António Saraiva. For Arminho Carlos, leader of the CGTP, Portugal's main trade union federation, this amount is “insufficient” in a favorable economic context. “Our goal was to listen to the social partners” and “find a point of balance between the different proposals,” the minister said.
The end of austerity policy
She added that in the future, “there will be annual evaluations” to re-evaluate the minimum wage according to developments in the economy. The Socialist Government intends to pursue a social policy while continuing to strengthen public finances that began during the previous legislative session thanks to the improvement in the economy.
This allowed him to put an end to the right-wing austerity policy when the country, hard hit by the 2011 debt crisis, found itself under the influence of the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. About 720,000 people receive the minimum wage in Portugal.
