Venezuela: 300% increase in minimum wage, insufficient for 1kg of meat

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The Venezuelan government announced on Saturday an increase in the minimum wage of almost 300%, but the increase does not even buy a kilo of meat due to the uncontrollable inflation in the South American country.

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An increase in the minimum wage comes into force, to 7 million bolivars ”, or 2.5 dollars, declared the Minister of Labor, Eduardo Piñate, in front of supporters of the socialist government gathered on the occasion of May 1.

The monthly minimum wage thus increases by 288.8%. It is supplemented by a food coupon of “3 million bolivars”, for a “minimum income of 10 million bolivars”, according to the minister.

But this increase does not allow Venezuelans to catch up with their purchasing power, while the country is in crisis, with an economy in recession for eight years and four consecutive years of hyperinflation, which reached nearly 3,000% in 2020.

The new minimum wage does not allow you to buy a kilo of meat which costs $ 3.75 in an increasingly dollarized economy. It is also not enough to buy a box of thirty eggs or a kilo of cheese, which cost 11 million bolivars.

“This is not the best news for a May Day,” economist César Aristimuño told AFP. “It will certainly bring a little relief to many Venezuelans, but unfortunately what we are going to see is a rise in prices,” he added.

The government of Nicolas Maduro, hit by international sanctions, in particular from Washington which seeks to oust him since his contested re-election in 2018, has given up announcing the salary increases with great fanfare as did his predecessor Hugo Chavez (1999- 2013).