Lithuanian Parliament urges further increase of minimum wage

The Seimas, Lithuanian Parliament, adopted a resolution on Tuesday under which minimum monthly wages in the country would be increased to 437 euros (486 U.S. dollars) as of July 2016.

The proposal was submitted by the Labor Party.

"The government will see how much money it will have; not just for acquiring military equipment or housing refugees, but also for our residents," Kestutis Dauksys, leader of the Labor party, was quoted as saying in the local media.

Opposition politicians accused the Labor Party of submitting populist proposals.

"We are triggering people's expectations which might not be met by the government," Jurgis Razma, member of the Parliament's Committee of Economics, was quoted as saying by website vz.lt.

"It is a traditional way to please the voters, however, they will not have more money in their pockets," he added.

If implemented, the move would be made a few months before national elections in Lithuania which take place in October 2016.

Algirdas Butkevicius, Lithuania's prime minister, stressed that the government would remain responsible and prudent while adopting certain decisions.

"There will be many various proposals in the wake of elections, however, my goal is to ensure that fiscal discipline and economic stability rules remain in place," he commented on the proposal.

Meanwhile, in another non-binding resolution, Lithuanian Members of Parliament (MPs) suggested raising the minimum monthly wage in accordance with the country's average wage. They proposed that the minimum monthly wage should stand at no less than half the average monthly wage recorded within the last three years.

The government has already committed to increasing minimum pay by 25 euro to 350 euro on Jan. 1, 2016.

According to data available to the Labor party, around 19.4 percent of the country's population earned minimum wage or less in October last year. Endit