Ankara's Minimum Wage Commission convened to set the statutory pay floor for the coming year. Labor and Social Security Minister Faruk Çelik said the government's program targeted a six percent increase, though the final figure could land one or two points above that.
The gross monthly minimum for workers older than 16 stood at 580 YTL in 2007, with net take-home pay of 419 YTL (roughly $490 and $354 at prevailing exchange rates). Çelik noted the floor had climbed 134 percent since 2002, when it was 184 YTL, well ahead of the 59 percent cumulative inflation recorded over that same period.
A new "minimum living reduction" was set to take effect on 1 January 2008, sharply cutting income-tax liabilities for minimum-wage earners. Under the measure, a worker supporting four children would owe no income tax at all, while a two-child household would be exempt from 75 percent of its liability, with the difference reflected in take-home pay.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in December 2007, in its own words.