Estonia has to increase its minimum wage more slowly after 2017 to avoid eroding its competitiveness, the head of the International Monetary Fund’s mission to the Baltic country said, Bloomberg reported. Decelerating productivity growth and weaker export expansion show that Estonia can’t afford to continue with increases like those agreed last week, for a 10% bump next year and 9% in 2017, the IMF’s Christoph Klingen said in an interview in Tallinn on Monday. The monthly minimum wage, at €390 ($441), is negotiated between trade unions and employers, with the government holding the right to veto.
