YEREVAN. – Around ten percent of Armenia’s 470,000 hired workers receive a monthly salary of AMD 30,000-40,000, Finance Minister Vache Gabrielyan stated Tuesday, at the National Assembly, introducing the bill on raising the minimum wage.  

As per Gabrielyan, in the public sector, librarians and maintenance workers receive the minimum wage, or very close to it, whereas more people receive such salaries in the private sector.    

The Minister noted that an employee must receive a net monthly minimum salary of AMD 35,000, which means the employer must pay a gross monthly minimum salary of AMD 46,296. According to Gabrielyan, if the monthly minimum wage is increased by AMD 2,500, the employer’s expenditure increases by AMD 5,000.   

To note, the Government of Armenia is proposing to set the monthly minimum wage at AMD 35,000, instead of the current 32,500, as of January 1, 2013.   

In line with the current exchange rate, US$ 1 is equivalent to approximately AMD 406.