Polish PM flags higher minimum wage increases in 2023

WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland will raise the minimum wage twice next year and by more than previously planned, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Tuesday, as Poland’s ruling party prepares for parliamentary elections in 2023 amidst an ongoing cost of living crisis.

The ruling Law and Justice party has seen a drop in public support as energy costs soared following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, driving Polish inflation to its highest in more than two decades, with prices up 16.1% year-on-year in August.

“We have decided … after taking into account various comments that have been made at the Social Dialogue Council over the last many months, to raise the minimum wage more – to a level of 3,490 zlotys from Jan. 1 and to 3.600 zlotys from July 1,” Morawiecki told a news briefing.

The minimum wage is currently set at 3,010 zlotys ($651.36).

($1 = 4.6211 zlotys)

(Reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk, Anna Koper, Joanna Plucinska and Marek Strzelecki; Editing by Jon Boyle and Tomasz Janowski)