The issue of wages is debated globally. The pursuit of workers’ social and economic well-being drives negotiations between unions, labor federations, and government representatives. Recent reports from Bloomberg Linea indicate that three countries in Latin America have the highest monthly minimum wages: Costa Rica, Uruguay, and Panama, where salaries are $751, $648, and $637, respectively.

They are followed by Colombia, where workers’ income this year is $548, including the transportation subsidy.

Comparisons with European countries can reveal profound differences that affect the population’s quality of life. According to data from Globalization Partners, Luxembourg currently has the highest base salary in the world, exceeding $3,100 per month.

“This figure, which sets an unprecedented standard, reflects the high cost of living in Europe and legal frameworks designed to protect the financial stability of the workforce,” they note.

Back in Latin America, the differences from country to country are also significant, due to indicators such as inflation and the macroeconomic instability of each nation.

M.Pino

Source: eltiempo

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La entrada Three Latin American countries have the highest monthly minimum wages apareció primero en Bitfinance.

The bolívar, Venezuela’s official currency, continues to experience a marked devaluation that is hitting the population’s purchasing power and eroding wages.

As of the end of November, the national currency had lost 8.8 % of its value against the US dollar.

According to experts, the increase in foreign currency leads to higher prices, as well as a loss of purchasing power for workers, especially those who are paid in bolívares.

The minimum wage for workers, as well as the amount allocated to pensioners, is 130 bolívares. With the daily update of the official dollar exchange rate published by the Central Bank of Venezuela, this amount decreases as the days go by.

Tensions between Venezuela and the United States, coupled with the South American nation’s internal problems, exacerbate the economic and financial situation, despite the rebound in some industrial sectors and foreign investment in areas such as agriculture, technology, and energy.

M.Pino

Source: lapatilla

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La entrada The bolivar continues to devalue apareció primero en Bitfinance.

In a forum held by the Venezuelan Finance Observatory, with the participation of specialists and academics, the economic scenario for the country in 2025 was analyzed, with projections of a scenario marked by inflation and the exchange rate.

The specialists “agreed that 2025 will be a complicated year for Venezuela in economic matters with very modest growth and a rise in the exchange rate and inflation that will again impact the purchasing power of citizens.”

The president of the Academy of Economic and Social Sciences, Dr. Leonardo Vera, and the director of the School of Economics at the University of Carabobo, Ana Isabel Belmonte, presented the scenarios that Venezuela could face next year.

They stressed that 2025 will be complicated for Venezuela. The last quarter of 2024 “presents a difficult situation, on the one hand there is the political climate and on the other hand the breakdown of the exchange rate anchor regime, which apparently they are modifying for another type of exchange rate policy,” according to Vera.

Belmonte argued that “the policies to control inflation in recent years have sacrificed national economic growth, and this slowdown in the last quarter of 2024 is a negative consequence of this scheme.”

Added to all this is the issue of the parity of the official and parallel exchange rates as well as the downward trend in the price of oil.

Both Leonardo Vera and Ana Isabel Belmonte see 2025 with slow economic growth, or very limited, and an increase in inflation above 60 %.

M.Pino

Source: cronicauno

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La entrada Venezuela’s economy will be marked by inflation and the exchange rate in 2025 apareció primero en Bitfinance.

The Cendas-FVM data placed the price of the basic basket at USD 547.13 for the month of May and the basic basket, USD 1,163.12.

According to its director, Óscar Meza, the increase in the price of food affects the purchasing power of the population, with a minimum wage of less than $5 per month.

When comparing the value of the basic basket in May with respect to April, there was an increase of 0.9 %, which shows a trend of stability.

However, any increase affects the purchasing power of the population. “In the month of May, 167.59 minimum wages were required and 5.58 minimum wages were required daily.”

The Cendas-FVM pointed out that among the items that dropped in price are “fish and seafood (-0.2%); milk, cheese and eggs (-0.5%); fats and oils (-0.1%), fruits and vegetables (-3.3%), roots and tubers (-1.1%); grains (-1.7%); sugar and salt (-1.4%) sauce and mayonnaise (-1.3%) and coffee (-1.7%).” Cereals, on the other hand, as well as meat and derivatives did not drop in price.

The center estimates that the average personal expense would be “$400 to cover only food and health.”

M.Pino

Source: diarioelregionaldelzulia

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La entrada Cost of the food basket in May reached USD 547.13 apareció primero en Bitfinance.

Venezuela registered an accumulated inflation of 4.1 % in the first quarter of the year, after adding 1.2 % in March, the same as in February and 1.7 % in January, reported the Central Bank (BCV).

The 1.2 % rate is the lowest the nation has recorded since August 2012, when goods and services became more expensive by an average of 1.1 %, according to official information.

The BCV indicated that the sector that registered the greatest increase in prices last March was health, with an average increase of 1.6 %, followed by food and non-alcoholic beverages, clothing and footwear and “miscellaneous goods and services”, with increases of 1.3 %.

Between 2017 and 2021, Venezuela experienced hyperinflation with monthly increases of up to three digits, the highest of 196.6 % in January 2019, which rapidly reduced the purchasing power of workers and the value of the bolivar, the currency national, which led the country to unofficially adopt the US dollar as a way to protect itself against this crisis.

Currently, even the price of gasoline is set in dollars, at 50 cents per liter.

The government expects Venezuela to close 2024 with the lowest inflation in the last decade, as reported last March by President Nicolás Maduro, who assured he had a plan to continue slowing the pace of price growth.

Meanwhile, university professors and workers from various sectors demand that the authorities increase the minimum wage, the reference for other salaries in the public sector, which is equivalent to about $3.5 per month.

With information from El Sumario

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La entrada BCV: Venezuela registered an inflation of 4.1 % in the first quarter of 2024 apareció primero en Bitfinance.

Venezuela’s labor sector remains waiting for the salary increase on May 1. In this regard, economist Asdrúbal Oliveros, director of Ecoanalítica, declared this Wednesday that this could happen through bonuses.

He indicated that in the midst of the campaign for the presidential elections on July 28, the Venezuelan government could show greater capacity to assume a salary increase for workers and pensioners, who are also on the minimum monthly income scale.

However, he made it clear that “the Maduro administration has rigidities due to the Labor Law that makes salary increases extremely expensive for everyone, including the Venezuelan State.”

According to Oliveros, during the four months of the presidential campaign, the government will authorize more bonuses through the Patria System, “putting more money on the street and generating an important stimulus for these months.”

The economist warned that a salary increase “as a legal concept in the public and private sector” requires a discussion of change on the Labor Law.

Double-digit economic growth

The specialist explained that double-digit economic growth is expected in Venezuela this year, accompanied by greater dynamism in some sectors of the economy. But he specified that “due to the current complex context, a shorter electoral campaign and the threat of sanctions from the United States, it is estimated that this year’s economic performance will be limited.”

“We expect a moderate economic growth of 4 %, which for an economy like the Venezuelan one needs to be larger and more permanent, since this does not ensure that the majority of the population is reflected in the context of growth,” Oliveros specified.

A modification in the United States sanctions against Venezuela, maintaining the operation of companies like Chevron, could allow a growth of 4 %. If sanctions become more serious, growth would be close to zero.

M.Pino

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La entrada Salary increase in May could be through bonuses apareció primero en Bitfinance.

The working groups on the increase in the minimum wage in Venezuela continue to work. A new proposal envisages an increase in stages, which includes first taking the current salary from 130 bolivars to 600, in November of this year taking it to 1,200 and in 2025 increasing it to 1,854 bolivars.

Workers are still waiting for an increase in the salary they earn monthly, since in 2023 the expected increase did not occur. The national Executive increased the Patria system bonuses, and they have no weight at the time of the employee’s withdrawal or retirement.

The new proposal for a staged salary increase was announced in a recent interview with Globovisión by the national director of Fedeindustria, Alcides Cayama, who indicated that “the average salary currently paid by private companies in the country is Bs. 1,854 per month ( $60).”

He emphasized that both the government and business owners and workers recognize the need for a substantial increase in the minimum wage.

Let us remember that the Confederation of Venezuelan Workers (CTV) had previously made a proposal to bring the minimum monthly income of Venezuelans to $200, no later than this month of March.

The organization presented the proposal during the social dialogue forum, in which it was accompanied by the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) and the Independent Trade Union Alliance (ASI) Venezuela.

M.Pino

Source: diarioelinformante

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La entrada Minimum wage increase in Venezuela could be in stages apareció primero en Bitfinance.

The Government of Argentina announced an increase in electricity tariffs that will take effect in April. The main objective is to “normalize the electricity sector” and promote the efficient use of energy in the South American country. According to official sources, this increase will affect different user groups proportionally.

• Higher Income Users: The electricity bill for this group will increase by up to 150 % for average consumption.
• Sectors with Lower Purchasing Power: Here, the increase will be around 65 %. However, if the electricity consumption reaches 600 KW/h (the average being 380 KW/h), the increase could be as high as 130 %.

The Ministry of Energy of Argentina has pointed out that during the period 2019-2023, electricity tariffs remained static, with insufficient punctual adjustments. This lack of updating distorted the real costs of electricity supply, affecting both users and the technical and revenue-raising operation of the system as a whole.

The Department of Energy, under the administration of ultra-liberal Javier Milei and subordinate to the Ministry of Economy, considers this “tariff correction” to be essential for restoring relative prices in the economy, ensuring the economic self-sufficiency of the electricity system and laying the foundations for promoting private investment.

Next steps will include measures to restore the functioning of the wholesale market, reallocating subsidies to help those with lower purchasing power, and promoting responsible and efficient use of energy for intensive consumers.

K. Tovar

Source: Bancaynegocios

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Mexico maintains inflation with an upward trend, located at 4.9 %, according to the National Consumer Price Index.

The organization’s report indicates that the increase in the inflation rate has been maintained for three fortnights, with an estimate “well above the average expected by Banco de México (Banxico) for the first quarter of the year, which is 4.3 %”.

According to Bloomberg Línea, various daily consumption items such as tobacco, packaged soft drinks and cigarettes have suffered a price increase due to the annual increase in the Special Tax on Production and Services.

“On the other hand, core inflation, an indicator that does not measure the price movement of energy products or unprocessed foods, increased 0.25 % at a biweekly rate, to stand at 4.78 % at an annual rate,” according to the digital medium.

In contrast to general inflation, the underlying component has maintained its downward trend, reaching the lowest level in 23 fortnights in January.

M.Pino

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La entrada Mexico’s inflation remains on an upward trend apareció primero en Bitfinance.

The National Consumer Price Index (INPC) of Venezuela registered a slight increase in October of seven tenths, reaching 6.7 % monthly, while the year-on-year figure fell to 362 %, compared to the year-on-year inflation of 396 % registered in September.

In this way, the Venezuelan price index reaches the lowest interannual figure of the year, already accumulating a consecutive fall of three months, after an increase last July that put an end to the downward trend since the beginning of the year.

All in all, it is still a figure that reflects a hyperinflation scenario and that contrasts enormously with the rest of the countries in the Latin American and Caribbean region (except Argentina, where inflation is also above three digits).

According to the information released this Monday by the Venezuelan Observatory of Finance (OVF), an independent economic information organization, this 6.7 % monthly price increase occurred in a context in which the exchange rate remained relatively stable.

This fact denotes that the policy of trying to contain the exchange rate so that it acts as an anchor for inflation does not seem to be giving the expected results, by depriving the economy of inflationary expectations.

Among the items that experienced the greatest increases, services stand out, with an increase of 9.8 %, mainly due to the 17 % increase in the mobile telephony division. For its part, the restaurants and hotels category registered an increase of 9.5 %, and education of 8.3 %. Food prices also showed a significant increase of 7.1 %.

Source: dpa

(Referential image source: OVF, Europa Press / dpa)

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La entrada Inflation in Venezuela climbs to 6.7 % monthly but year-on-year falls to 362 % apareció primero en Bitfinance.