site.btaSocial Partners to Discuss Poverty Line for Next Year

The National Council for Tripartite Cooperation will hold a meeting on Monday, September 16, to discuss a draft Decree by the Council of Ministers on determining next year's poverty line in Bulgaria, submitted by the Minister of Labour and Social Policy, the Government information service reported here.

The Cabinet proposes that from January 1, 2025 the poverty line will be set at BGN 638, compared to BGN 526 in 2024.

The Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB), however, believes that the poverty line for next year should be BGN 667 and not BGN 638. In a position published on the CITUB's website, it is stated that they do not accept the approach for determining the poverty line and will not support the draft decree of the Council of Ministers in this regard.

CITUB insist that the methodology for determining the poverty line should be seriously refined by defining the minimum needs that would guarantee a certain social minimum per person in a household, the position states. The trade union considers it imperative to carry out an annual assessment/check on the adequacy of the poverty line, "by comparing it with a targeted consumer basket designed to guarantee the social minimum per person in a household."