In a press release dated 28 September 2022the government announced that an agreement with the UEL and the LCGB, CGFP and OGBL unions was signed on 28 September 2022 to help households and businesses in response to the high rate of inflation and the rise in energy costs.

The government and social partners have agreed the following measures:

• - An adjustment of the minimum social wage in line with average wage growth. The government plans to submit a bill reflecting this. It should be remembered that “ increasing the minimum social wage does not imply any legal obligation to raise all salaries in businesses”;»;

• - The reestablishment of the automatic indexation of wages. The indexation due to be triggered in July 2022 will be applied as of 1^st April 2023, in accordance with the law of 29 June 2022 transposing certain measures introduced by the tripartite agreement of 31 March 2022;

• - A temporary reduction of the value added tax rate by 1% between 1^st January 2023 and 31 December 2023;

• - An extension of, and change to, support offered to businesses that have been particularly affected by the rise in energy prices, as well as the introduction of a new energy help scheme designed to “ support businesses whose energy costs represent at least 2% of their turnover for the month for which an application has been submitted”; »;

• - The abolition of the advance payment for social security contributions on 1^st January 2023 for employers, farmers and the self-employed.

It is made clear that this agreement shall cease to apply as of 31 December 2023.