On September 20, the Armenian government rejected the bill proposed by deputy head of the oppositional Armenian National Congress (ANC) Hrant Bagratyan “On Amendments to the Law” On the minimum wage.” The bill proposes to increase the minimum wage from the current 32,500 AMD (about 90 dollar) to 72,500 AMD (about 180 dollar).
The Armenian government has assured that the initiative is in tune with the policy of the executive body and is provided by the state budget for 2013, noting that the specified amount and period of the application need additional justification.
Armenian Minister of Finance Vache Gabrielyan stated that this would be a burden to the state budget of Armenia. “In addition, it can lead to an increase of the” shadow -economy”, as it will assign additional expenses on the enterprises,” – added the Minister.