The Government on April 6 issued a decree to enforce a new basic monthly wage of VND650,000 and another decree to raise the retirement pension and social insurance subsidy by five percent as of May 1, 2009.
The new basic wage will apply to the armed forces, state agencies, socio-political organizations, non-state public institutions, and state-owned companies.
The cost of the new wage will be sourced from regular savings (10 percent) by administrative and public agencies under central and provincial authorities. Regarding public agencies that have additional incomes, a minimum 40 percent of these earnings will be set aside to cover the cost of the new wage. The figure will be 35 percent for the state medical sector.
For businesses, any increases will be based on their own individual efforts to reduce production costs.
There will also be an increase of five percent for retirement pensions, allowances and social insurance subsidies for various groups of workers, including civil servants, servicemen and servicewomen, police officers, rubber workers, and cadres at communal and ward levels.