New Zealand raises minimum wage and raises taxes on the rich | The world

New Zealand has raised the minimum wage and raised taxes on the rich, both of which are due to take effect tomorrow and are part of Prime Minister Jacinta Arden’s efforts to combat inequality and boost the economy after the impact of the corona virus. Govit-19.

The Prime Minister announced on Monday that the new minimum wage would rise from NZ $ 18.90 (US $ 13.19 or 11.27 euros) to NZ $ 20 (US $ 13.96 or 11.93 euros) per hour, and 175,000 people will benefit.

From Thursday, the maximum tax on earnings above $ 180,000 (US $ 125,654 or 107,316 euros) will increase to 39%, up from 33%. The move is expected to affect 2% of taxpayers.

According to official estimates, the new tax ceiling, which will be part of a series of tax measures, will provide an additional $ 550 million (US $ 384 million or 8 328 million) to the Treasury for fiscal year 2021. 634 million New Zealand dollars (US $ 443 million or 378 million euros) by 2024.

The minimum wage increase that affected many key employees during the COVID-19 epidemic was praised by the unions and criticized by businesses for not yet recovering from the economic damage caused by the COVID-19. Imprisonment, especially in Auckland.

According to data from the New Zealand Ministry of Community Development, companies in the country have been hiring more staff since the beginning of this year, although more than 200,000 are still receiving unemployment benefits, almost 60,000 more than in mid-March last year, when the epidemic began.

Since December, the Treasury Ministry’s latest report indicates that the deficit for the fiscal year 2020/21 ending June 30 will be $ 10.1 billion (US $ 7.156 million or 8 5.890 million). Although net debt will rise to 45.6% of GDP by 2023-24, it is lower than forecast.

New Zealand, which closed its borders to control the epidemic, ordered one of the world’s toughest prisons, with only 50 cases in March, amassing 2,141 confirmed infections and 26 deaths.