Prime Minister Edi Rama stated on the "Flasim" podcast that the government has entered a new phase of policies to increase wages, aiming not only to increase their nominal value, but also to protect purchasing power.
He emphasized that the minimum wage has reached 500 euros, while the average salary has increased by about 10%, while also announcing new mechanisms such as periodic indexation in the public sector and special increases for key categories such as doctors, nurses and administration.
" From January 1 of this year, we have entered a new phase of wage increases, with a clear direction: real income growth and protection of purchasing power. This is not just about nominal wages, which, from the minimum wage nationwide, have increased to 500 euros, or on average have reached about 10%, at a steady pace in both the public and private sectors.
But here we are talking about what we have been missing as a mechanism, not because we were unaware of the lack, but because we have not been able to address it as a result of the lack of economic opportunities. Today, since the economy has given us new opportunities, we have decided to index salaries in the public sector every two years, with additional mechanisms for different categories, and thus correct the impact of inflation on the salaries of teachers, doctors, nurses, police officers, military personnel and the administration.
Special attention has been given to the health system, where from June salaries will also increase in some critical services. Emergency doctors will be treated at the same level as others, even in terms of guards, which are an extra burden. Meanwhile, the concrete increases will amount to 18 thousand lek per month for doctors and 12 thousand lek for nurses and technicians, accompanied by higher salaries for shifts and a revaluation system for experience.
It is a direct intervention where the responsibility is highest and where the system requires daily support. It is a sustainable policy, because it is a sustainable economic growth and there are necessary mechanisms that this economic growth has made possible and, of course, measurable in what is the account of every family that lives with honest work. "