The Government is considering a plan to delay the planned increase in the minimum wage for State officials that was set for 2013 due to limited state budget.
Members of NA’s Finance and Budget Committee appraise budgetary report
The plan was included in a report on the Sate budget estimate for 2013, recently delivered by the Ministry of Finance.
According to Minister of Finance, Vuong Dinh Hue, the increase in minimum salary planned to take effect on May 1, 2013.
But he said that, due to the impacts of the economic downturn, the State budget is lower than expected, making it necessary for the Government to make cutbacks.
The ministry explained that minimum salary has been raised eight times in the past nine years, consistently between VND100,000 and VND200,000 (USD4.79-USD9.58). Representatives from the ministry have said that another pay raise would be imprudent under during current economic situation.
Still, there have been other suggestions that the Government increase minimum salary for state officials from the current VND1.05 million (USD50.31) to VND1.15 million (USD55.1) per month in order to ensure a living wage.
These also came with the recommendation to increase assignment allowances to 30% starting May 1, 2013, from current 25%. The funding for the increases, they suggested, could come from domestic income and oil export taxes.
While delaying pay raises for Government office employees, the planned increases to the minimum wage at private enterprises would go ahead. For these employees it would mean an increase in the minimum wage from VND1.4 million (USD67.08) to VND1.7 million (USD81.45) per month. The maximum increase would be VND2.4 million (USD115) per month, from current VND2 million (USD95.83).
An anonymous official from the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs said the Government’s final decision on the issue would be announced within the month.
Truong Thi Mai, Chairwoman of the NA’s Committee for Social Affairs, commented that around 22 million people would be affected by the pay raise deferment.
She proposed that the Government make a quick decision on the issue of salaries for workers at enterprises next year, saying that any decision should be made as soon as possible.
Despite forecasts, this year the budget of the State and many local governments have fallen short of expectations, and a heavy dependency on natural resources as a source of revenue has impeded the Government's best efforts at achieving sustainable budgets.
