《TAIPEI TIMES》 Basic wage likely to rise: officials

By Lee Ching-hui and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The Ministry of Labor’s basic wage review committee is meeting tomorrow, while officials yesterday said it would likely raise the minimum wage for next year at its third-quarter meeting.

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Representatives of workers, employers, the government and academia are to attend the committee’s second-quarter deliberations to exchange opinions on critical economic data, including rising consumer prices and economic growth, ministry officials said.

Preliminary data show that consumer prices are growing compared with the first quarter, but the growth rate is slowing, an official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Economic growth is also slowing, but some experts believe the market would perform better in the second half of the year, the official said.

The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said that the economy was bearish with poor performances in the export and investment sectors, adding that it last month scaled back estimates for economic growth to 2.04 percent, the slowest growth rate in eight years.

The agency said that consumer prices would continue to grow, with the consumer price index increasing to 2.26 percent, higher than the 2.16 percent estimated in February.

The National Development Council in April said that the business climate monitor in March rose to 11, signaling a recession for the fifth consecutive month.

The commission said the data showed that economic growth remained weak.

The Executive Yuan on June 1 approved a 4 percent pay raise for public-sector workers, which is to take effect from the beginning of next year.

The committee would discuss the amount of a possible minimum-wage increase at its third-quarter meeting, officials said.

Based on the economic data and calculations previously used by the committee, it would likely raise the minimum wage by 3.28 percent to NT$28,765 per month, with hourly wages starting at NT$182, up from NT$26,400 per month and NT$167 per hour, the sources said, adding that those figures could change.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES