Spain Approves 8% Rise In Minimum Wage And Pensions
Spain’s Council of Ministers has raised the minimum wage to 707.70 euros per month an 8% rise, or 23.59 euros per day and 9,907.80 euros per year, as from January 1, 2017.
The minimum wage for seasonal and temporary workers is set at 33.51 euros per day for those who provide services for one company for not more than 120 days per year.
The Council also approved a 0.25% increase in public pensions, as established by the General Social Security Act. The Council of Ministers approved a Royal Decree establishing the rise in public pensions under the Social Security system, the rise in pensions for civil servants and other public social benefits for 2017. All these pensions and financial benefits will rise by 0.25%.
According to Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, “this increase, agreed with the Socialist Group, is the highest in 30 years and is possible thanks to the general state of the Spanish economy”.
The Social Security system estimates that this increase will affect 9,476,780 contributory pensions, 455,229 non-contributory pensions and 191,240 family benefits.
Rajoy said that after taking stock of the government’s management in 2016 and outlining its challenges for the coming years, that the decision “has allowed for the necessary steps to raise pensions by 0.25% as established by the General Social Security Act.
The government approved an agreement whereby the distribution by ministerial department of the State Budget extended into 2017 is formalized, and established the unavailability of credit for a sum of 5.49 billion euros and adopted measures to control spending during 2017.
The way the election process unfolded and the situation of a caretaker government meant that it had not been possible to draft the General State Budget for 2017, and hence, as from 1 January 2017, the Budget for 2016 will automatically be extended.
Mariano Rajoy pointed out that in the context of the automatic extension to the Budget, “it has been necessary to approve an agreement so that the level of State spending is in line with the ceiling approved for 2017, and consequently, meet our deficit commitments for 2017 within the framework established for the Eurozone”.