Kazakhstan to increase minimum wage
By Abdul Kerimkhanov
The minimum wages will be increased in Kazakhstan.
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev instructed the government to raise the minimum wage from 28,000 tenge ($80) to 42,000 tenge ($115) from January 1, 2019.
For these purposes, more than 96 billion tenge ($260 million) will be allocated from the republican budget for 2019-2021 annually.
“This will be a real help for every Kazakh citizen. This will directly increase the remuneration of 1.3 million people working in all sectors, all forms of ownership. Also, the increase will affect 275,000 employees of state-financed organizations, whose salaries will grow by an average of 35 pct: teachers, doctors, law-enforcement bodies,” said the president.
"Now the minimum wage will not be tied to the subsistence minimum. The new minimum wage will be a catalyst for the growth of wages in the whole economy of the country," Nazarbayev added.
The head of state expressed hope that the initiative will be supported by large Kazakhstani and foreign companies representatives of which were invited to the Akorda presidential residence on October 5.
The Kazakh subsistence minimum reached $80 in August, a 7.5 pct increase in a month. The average per capita subsistence level incorporates the minimum consumer basket of goods and services, including food products (55 pct) and non-food products (45 pct).
The last time the minimum wage in Kazakhstan increased by 14 pct - from $66 to $80.
For comparison, the lowest minimum wage in the European Union in January 2018 was 261 euros in Bulgaria. In Russia, from May 1, 2018, the minimum wage will be 160 euros.
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