"Our proposal remains in place. It's still on the table. What we proposed last year was to increase the minimum salary to 850 litas starting 1 July (2012). I believe that we'll come to a rational solution at the Tripartite Council after the lengthy discussions," he told reporters.
The Tripartite Council, which brings together representatives of the government, employers and trade unions, failed to take a decision on the minimum salary last November and put off discussions on this issue.
Earlier this year, the government earlier did not support lawmakers' idea to automatically index the minimum wage.
Finance Minister Ingrida Šimonytė has said that she doubts if the minimum wage should be raised by 100 litas to 900 litas in the middle of this year, noting that such growth will be disproportionate, given some economists' forecasts that the average salary will rise by 3 percent and that unemployment will be declining at a lower rate.
