2024-05-02 20:06:37
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro said the minimum income for workers will be $130 a month, without explaining what bonuses for public sector workers and pensioners would be included in that amount and whether he foresees an increase in the minimum monthly wage, Reuters reported, citing from BTA.
Maduro announced the change amid workers’ demands for higher wages, months before presidential elections in which he is seeking a third term.
The increase in wages has failed to meet the double- and triple-digit annual inflation recorded over the past year, Reuters noted. By March, consumer prices had increased by 67.75% year-on-year. The monthly minimum wage of 130 bolivars, equivalent to $3.50 at the official exchange rate, has not been adjusted since March 2022, but the government paid bonuses to public sector workers and pensioners, raising them to 100 in February this year dollar.
“Today I decide to raise the overall minimum income for workers to at least $130,” Maduro said at an event marking International Labor Day. “We will restore the workers’ income, the country’s income, step by step”.
This year, Maduro’s government has stepped up its efforts to bring inflation down to double digits, pushing for an increase in social spending ahead of elections. Unions for teachers, university professors, health workers and others have demanded wage adjustments to offset losses from inflation over the past few years.
According to the teachers’ union, the cost of food for one family is more than 500 dollars per month, notes Reuters, quoted by BTA.