Male’ Maldives – This is not the time to declare minimum wage in Maldives, said the Minister of Finance and Treasury Ibrahim Ameer, today.
Speaking in the Committee of Economic Affairs of the Maldivian Parliament, Minister Ameer said that although he supports the declaration of a minimum wage in the country, the first priority right now should be to revert the economy of the country to the status it was during the beginning of this year.
He revealed that this would likely happen by the year 2022.
“In my opinion, this isn’t the best time to declare minimum wage. We cant tell for sure how the economy of the world will change, (and with this) our economy.” The Minister said.
While the minimum wage advisory board has suggested MVR 6,400 as the minimum wage, Minister Ameer highlighted that out of the 44,838 employees of the private sector 22،378 employees receive a basic salary lower than this, which would require an additional MVR 2.3 billion should a minimum wage be set now.
The declaration of a minimum wage is a presidential pledge of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
