Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited the Labour and Social Security Ministry on Tuesday, on a day of particular symbolism, as it is the first day of implementation of the new minimum wage increase.

Minister of Labour and Social Security, Niki Kerameus, stated: "Today is the first day of implementation of the new minimum wage increase by 50 euros per month, an increase of 6% compared to last year and 35% compared to 2019. This increase, which concerns over 1.6 million citizens, does not solve all the problems, but it does reduce the difficulties and is an important step towards the goal set by the prime minister for a minimum wage of 950 euros and an average wage of 1,500 euros in 2027."

According to Kerameus, "all of this is part of the government’s overall strategy, on the one hand to strengthen, as much as we can, the disposable income of citizens and on the other hand to systematically reduce taxes and social security contributions."

This meeting - added the minister - is taking place in a positive climate for the labour market as the lowest unemployment in 17 years was recorded. "Today, Greece has a lower unemployment rate than Sweden, Finland and Spain and more than 500,000 new jobs have been created," stressed Kerameus, adding that "in the coming period we will move in two main directions. The first is labour and the second is social security."

"In labour, our goal and our priority will always be more and better paid jobs, strengthening collective bargaining, continuous facilitation and simplification in the labour market," she said, adding that in social security, "the aim is faster pension disbursement and better services to the citizens."