September 17 (SeeNews) - Serbia's government decided to increase the minimum hourly net wage by 8.6% as of January 1, 2019, it said.
The minimum net wage will be increased to 155.3 dinars ($1.5/1.3 euro) from 143 dinars at present, the government said in a statement on Friday.
Last week, Serbia's Social and Economic Council refused to accept an increase of the minimum hourly wage by 8.6% proposed by the finance ministry, as trade unions demanded a hike of at least 10%.
Trade unions demand a 10% increase as they expect that in the next three to four years the minimum monthly wage will be made equal to the minimum cost of the consumer basket in Serbia, which currently stands at 36,000 dinars, members of the council said.
In nominal terms, the average net wage in Serbia totalled 417 euro in June, according to the latest official data available.
(1 euro = 118.323 dinars)