(MENAFN) Greece's Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has announced that the country will raise its minimum wage for the third time since the conservative government took office in 2019. The minimum monthly wage will increase from €713 (USD758) to €780 (USD829), equating to a 9.4 percent increase, effective from April 1. Mitsotakis noted that while this increase does not solve the problem, it provides significant relief and indicates the government's intention to upgrade salaries in both the public and private sectors.
According to Mitsotakis, the rise represents the maximum limit of what the country can afford, highlighting that the minimum wage in 2019 was €650. The conservative government's first increase was 2 percent, with a monthly gross minimum wage of €663 in January 2022, while another increase of 9.7 percent raised the monthly gross minimum wage to €713 in May 2022.
Meanwhile, a recent poll conducted by Pulse company on behalf of Skai TV projected that the New Democracy party, led by Mitsotakis, is slightly ahead of the left-wing opposition SYRIZA. The poll revealed that New Democracy is leading SYRIZA by 4 percent, with Mitsotakis polling at 35 percent as the most suitable prime minister, while opposition leader Alexis Tsipras received 27 percent.
The poll also revealed that New Democracy is projected to receive 30 percent of the vote, with leftist SYRIZA following closely with 26 percent. Center-left PASOK is expected to receive 10 percent of the vote, followed by the Greek communist party KKE with 6 percent, Greek Solution with 4 percent, and radical leftist MeRA25 with 3.5 percent. The poll found that undecided voters make up 13 percent of the electorate.
Overall, the increase in Greece's minimum wage for the third time since the conservative government took office is a significant development, demonstrating the government's commitment to improving the country's economic situation. The poll results suggest that Mitsotakis and his New Democracy party are still leading in popularity, despite the challenges of governing during a pandemic and economic crisis.
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