The president said that raising the minimum monthly salary was a “ripe issue” but refrained from specific figures. Grybauskaitė also warned that, regardless of the step, the government should not make unreasoned spending increases.
"The increase was already needed, and I think the first step is indeed reasonable and we'll see to make sure that there is no rush to make increases that would be senseless or uncalculated. But in principle, the increase was needed," Grybauskaitė told journalists in Brussels after arriving at the European Union's (EU) summit.
Social Democrat Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius, the head of the center-left government that was sworn in on Thursday, has said that the minimum monthly salary would be raised to 1,000 litas (EUR 289.9) as of 1 January.
Minimum monthly wages in Lithuania currently stands at 850 litas after being raised by 50 litas on 1 July.
