Skopje, 31 January 2025 (MIA) - The Government has reaffirmed its stance that unions and employers should agree over the minimum wage, which is set to be discussed at next week's session of the Economic-Social Council.

Finance Minister Gordana Dimitrieska-Kochoska repeated Friday the position of Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski that the Government will monitor the process and accept what unions and employees agree on.

"Unions and employers will talk about the minimum wage. We will monitor the process and accept their agreement, because our analyses have shown that about 14,000 civil servants get the minimum wage in state institutions, whereas all others are not affected by the minimum wage component," said Dimitrieska-Kochoska.

Regarding the proposal by the Economic Chamber of North Macedonia to increase the minimum wage but lower contributions, the FinMin said nothing should be changed in the part of contributions, since they are among the lowest in the region.

"Contributions to the state must be paid. There have been various proposals on many occasions, but the contributions are among the lowest compared to the neighboring countries. Therefore, I believe nothing should change in this part," noted Dimitrieska-Kochoska.

According to the law, the minimum wage should be aligned this March and increase by about Mden 1,800 (EUR 30).

MIA file photo