IMF Romania chief of mission Jeffrey Franks declared on Wednesday, as he arrived at the Labour ministry that an evaluation is called for before one can talk about an increase of the minimum salary, Romanian news agency Mediafax informs. Moreover, Romania's representative to the IMF Mihai Tanasescu declared that there were no talks on the subject so far.

Franks declared that he is aware of the pressures to ncrease the minimum salary and that this could be an advantage, but an evaluation is needed to see what the consequences of such a measure are.

UPDATE After the meeting with the Labour minister Ioan Botis, Franks declared that an increase of the minimum salary might discourage hirings so that authorities must be cautious. Regarding estimates on the economic development, Franks said that they will analyze in this mission.