At the beginning of next year, Lithuania is to see an increase in the minimum wage following a previous increase last summer. 

On the 1st January 2016 the country’s minimum wage will risen by €25 euro to €350. In June of this year it was increased by €25 from €300.

The Tripartite Council who help decide on the minimum wage in the country have said there will be further meetings in the future to discuss increasing it again.

Prime Minister, Algirdas Butkevicius has indicated that the minimum wage may increase €30 to €380 in the middle of next year. Should this happen, Lithuania’s minimum wage will have risen by 26% in just over a year. The news will be welcome to many low paid workers in the country, who did not receive a pay increase for many years following Lithuania’s deep recession.

The hike will affect over 60,000 employees in the public sector, and a further 240,000 in the private sector.

Estonia recently increased their minimum wage also. It came with warning from the International Monetary Fund that it could damage the country’s competitiveness.