With the adoption of a set of laws in the Parliament, salaries will increase in October. Minimum earnings at 600 euros for high school students, 800 euros for university students and average at 1000 euros. Pensions will increase from January.
The general VAT rate remains at 21 percent.
The opposition united in the anti-government bloc believes that wage increases are not sustainable.
In the meantime, the public has not heard of an alternative to the Europe now 1 and 2 program for increasing wages.
The anti-government bloc assures citizens that life was better in Montenegro before 2020, although prices have increased due to global price increases.
Consequently, if the anti-government bloc reduced the raised wages, it would not affect the reduction of prices.
Inflation in Montenegro was the highest at the end of 2022 during the 43rd Government of Montenegro.
WAGE GROWTH IN MONTENEGRO: ALMOST TWICE THAT IN THE EUROPEAN UNION
Speculations that inflation has "eaten" wage growth and that people have less money at their disposal than before the implementation of the Europe now 1 program is completely meaningless. While the net salary in Montenegro increased by 56.05%, in the same period the inflation rate (Monstat) was 24.3%, which makes the real salary growth over 30%! In the same period, inflation in the European Union was lower (Eurostat), but wage growth was also drastically lower, so that the average EU citizen earns 18% more than in December 2021.
In nine countries of the European Union, inflation was higher than in Montenegro.
This means that real earnings in Montenegro have grown twice as much as in the European Union.
NOMINAL PENSION OF PORSLA ALMOST 75%
The average pension at the end of 2021 was 292 euros, while in June 2024 the average pensioner received 514 euros, which is an increase of 75%. During that time, the inflation rate is 24.3%, which means that Montenegrin pensioners have more than 50% more real pension value to spend than two and a half years ago.
In the conditions of dramatic global inflation, this dynamic of wage growth significantly helped maintain the standard of living of the citizens of Montenegro, because without the increase in salaries and pensions it would have been damaged.
It is important to note that Montenegro did not borrow a single cent for measures to increase salaries and pensions, on the contrary, the public debt that the Ministry of Finance under the leadership of Milojko Spajić found in 2020 was at the level of 105% of GDP, today it is at 63.28%. For the sake of comparison, from 2011 to 2020, the average salary increased by only 40 euros (8%), and prices by 12%, which means that the purchasing power of citizens decreased, despite the increase in public debt by as much as 2.93 billion euros.
Summarizing the state of affairs in the election race for the new Podgorica administration, we notice how much the focus of political opponents is criticism of the work of the Government, which finally brought Montenegro out of various political exhibitions and experiments, minority support for DPS, corruption and lawlessness.
PES and the Democrats have profiled themselves through concrete actions and bold moves, which clearly positions them before the judgment of the public and history. Convinced of the correctness of their path, these political actors announce the victory in Podgorica as a key step towards further reforms, among which the wage increase and the stabilization of local administration have been achieved. This would continue the movement towards the goals started with the formation of the 44th Government of Montenegro, with a clear direction towards the European Union.
(Even Stronger Coalition - Prof. Saša Mujović, Ph.D.)
