March 10, 2024 Portugal will go to the vote and the electoral campaign has already begun with the opposition parties irritated by the decision of the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousato wait four months to rely on verdict of the polls. However twenty-four hours after the official announcement, the head of state himself has signed the law which provides for the increase of minimum wage from 1 January 2024. A record increase: it will in fact go from the current 760 euros to 820 euros, equal to an increase 7.9%. The government of the resigning Antonio Costa had reached an agreement with the trade union confederations on October 7, ma la Portuguese Confindustria (CIP) refused to sign the document, despite a series of measures launched to make the impact of the wage increase sustainable. Among the rules in favor of businesses, tax incentives for entrepreneurs willing to provide accommodation to workers, daily allowances revised according to new tables, reduction of some taxes and support for the agricultural sector. The increase in salaries will also affect public employeeswith the passage from the current 769.83 euros to 821.83, with a improvement in purchasing power, net of inflation, of 4.6%. A gift from the Costa era.
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Portugal recorded a rise in wages by 16% in the period 2008-2022. The 2024 growth is part of the National Strategy to Fight Poverty 2021-2030, with the aim of removing 10% of the population from poverty. A positive trend, for a nation that continues to be part of the bottom group among the 27 states of the European Union, where VAT in various sectors reaches 23% and where the price of petrol is almost at Italian levels. The EU has established three bands: salaries above 1,500 euros, salaries between 1,000 and 1,500, and below 1,000. Italywith Denmark, Austria, Finland and Sweden, it is one of the five nations in which there is no minimum salary threshold.