Minimum wage increases required after price hikes

Due to price hikes, the growth of the minimum wage is now urgent, said economic connoisseurs.

Dardan Abazi from INDEP, in a statement on Online Economy, said it is very disturbing for them not only the fast and rapid increase of prices but also the approach of this government towards the demands of consumers and the most sensitive categories in society.

For us as an organization that works on promoting sustainable development and that we are implementing the consumer protection platform is really disturbing to see such a sudden and sudden increase in prices in such a short time, which is a problem for many Kosovo families who can't afford such price increases and especially at a time when winter months are beginning where electricity consumption of other products and in this way citizens have a lot of difficulty in coping with these CO1x).

According to Abbas, one of the possible options should be to increase the minimum wage, so that consumers can have more consumer power.

Even the minimum wage is one of the options, so especially in the medium- and long-term plan that we consider should grow, so consumers will have more consumer power, but general prosperity will increase. This decision must be well-stressed in the sense of macroeconomic analysis. We can't have a minimum wage increase in response to the temporary crises, it should be a measure that has been well analysed, as it's an irreversible” decision.

He says the well-being of citizens has not increased to such size that they can afford price hikes, according to him, the Government should come with a set of other measures.

Kosovo's <x0) economy and the well-being of citizens in general is not that it has grown to size so that it can balance this price increase and can afford these” prices.

It is very important that the Government come with a package of measures in the energy sector, where the funding of consumers in need should be established, there should be consumer awareness campaign and there should be an investment programme in energy efficiency. And then we have a temporary drop of excise in oil that's going to affect lower the price of oil”.

As a result, Ahaz said that he already hopes this whole crisis will ease in the coming months.

“We hope that the crisis will begin to ease in the coming months, we also consider that we already do not have an increase in energy prices by April. In that sense, we hope that in our next revision, the taryr will not have high costs that could affect energy growth. The Kosovo government, of course, must bring new strategies and take into account the aspect of consumer protection”.

And, on the other hand, economics connoisseur Erton Bega, in a statement for Online Economy said the minimum wage is very low, and there have been no changes more than a decade.

“S first the minimum wage is very low and has not been changed for more than a decade, the government before coming to power has promised to raise the minimum wage, and it is the moment to rise due to all economic circumstances and in view of here also inflation”.

Bega said price hikes have resulted from price hikes on the global market.

The price hikes have resulted from price hikes on the global market. Our economy is a consumer economy based on import, so the information is imported. The causes of inflation on a global level are linked to the total closure we had in the past year on the pandemic case, and after opening and considering the numerous economic packages of powerful countries, then immediately demand has been raised for goods and services across the world”, he stressed.

Baga concludes that the government should take more care of those society groups that cannot afford even a quarter of consumer spending.

The government must not only take care of employees affected by the state budget, but must think of the entire population, and especially those groups of society paid on a salary that can't afford even a quarter of the consumption spending”.