Salary Showdown Continues as Opposition, Government Fail to Agree

(Tbilisi. March 18, 2003. Civil Georgia) – Opposition Parliamentary faction United Democrats and the State Minister Avtandil Jorbenadze hold consultation today to reach a compromise over controversial proposal to increase minimal salary to the subsistence level – 115 Lari per month.

All-day long consultations are held without any results so far. The sides discuss possibility of increase of minimal salary to 40 Lari from July 1, 2003 and to 60 Lari from 2004.

One of the leaders of the pro-governmental Parliamentary factions, which oppose the United Democrats proposal on five-fold increase in salaries, Vakhtang Rcheulishvili said that the Finance Minister promised that the government would do its best to increase minimal salary.

The government claims that the increase of minimal salary to 115 Lari in 2003 would be impossible and it would lead to the inflation.