The new Minister of Finance, Dan Vîlceanu, does not know what the minimum wage in Romania. At a press conference de said that the net minimum wage is around 1,600 lei and the gross one is 2,380 lei.
Rep: Do you have any idea what the minimum wage is in hand?
Dan Vîlceanu: What?
Rep: The net minimum wage, in hand, in Romania.
Dan Vîlceanu: It’s around 1,600… And something.
Rep: 1,386.
Dan Vîlceanu: It’s 2,380 I think… the minimum wage. 2,000… yes, 2,300 gross minimum wage. It can’t be 1,300. But whatever.
Rep: That’s how much it is.
Dan Vîlceanu: Okay.
Romania has three regulated minimum wages at preset. The minimum gross basic wage in the country guaranteed in payment in 2021 for employees without higher education is 2,300 lei, which means that employees receive “in hand” a net minimum wage of 1,386 lei. For graduates with one year’s experience, the net minimum wage is 1,413 lei, and the net minimum wage for construction workers is 2,362 lei, who are exempt from a number of taxes.