Hungary's monthly average gross wage rose by an annual 10 percent to 273,822 HUF (886 EUR) in January, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) has said.
The KSH noted that wages have been boosted by a higher minimum wage as well as pay increases for social services and healthcare workers and state employees in the cultural sector.
According to MTI, excluding the 189,800 Hungarians in public work programs, the average gross wage rose by 9.8 percent to 288,152 HUF, while net wages also increased by 9.8 percent to 191,620 HUF. Full-time public workers earned gross 80,094 HUF on average during the month, 1.1 percent more than in the same period last year.
Calculating with January twelve-month CPI of 2.3 percent, real wages were up by 7.5 percent. Regular gross wages rose by 10.3 percent to 261,945 HUF.
Mihály Varga, minister for National Economy, said the government has concluded the wage talks it was involved in and he believes that wages in the public sector are about to grow at the same pace as the overall increase in January. Wages in the private sector could rise at a slightly slower pace, he added.
The minister concluded that wages in real terms have been rising uninterruptedly, since the beginning of 2013, for 49 consecutive months in Hungary.