RIGA - The Finance Ministry announced that the average gross monthly wage could reach 400.9 lats (570.4 euros) in 2010, according to information published on its Web site.
Andris Vilks, an analyst with SEB Latvijas Unibanka, when presenting the latest analytical survey about development of the Baltic states and the Eastern European region, said that last year the average gross monthly wage in Estonia had been 550 euros, while in Latvia it was around 300 euros. The difference was due to many employers paying their staff unofficially in cash, thus avoiding taxes.
The Latvian National Statistics Office said that the average gross monthly wage in the national economy last year was 245.7 lats.
The ministry has estimated average gross monthly wage at 272.1 lats this year, 302.2 lats in 2007, 333.2 lats in 2008 and 365.8 lats in 2009.
In actual prices, average gross monthly wage in Latvia will grow 11.8 percent in 2006, 11.1 percent in 2007, 10.2 percent in 2008, 9.8 percent in 2009 and 9.6 percent in 2010. In constant prices, the growth would be 5.8 percent in 2006, 6.5 percent in both 2007 and 2008, and 6.9 percent in 2009 and 2010.
