RPT: Brazil mulls over minimum wage hike of 7.5 pct in 2017
Xinhua, April 16, 2016 Adjust font size:
The Brazilian government on Friday proposed a 7.5 percent rise in the minimum wage per month for workers starting January 2017.
In accordance with a new fiscal proposal put forward by the country's Ministry of Planning to the National Congress of Brazil Friday, the minimum wage per month will go up from 880 reais to 946 reais (about 249 to U.S. dollars to 268 U.S. dollars).
There will be further hikes in the minimum wage in 2018 and 2019, to 1,002 reais and 1,067 reais, respectively, according to the proposal.
Currently, the annual adjustment in the minimum salary is done by a calculation involving the previous year's inflation rate and results of gross domestic product over the last two years.
As Brazil's GDP contracted by 3.8 percent last year, however, this new adjustment for 2017 only takes the inflation rate into consideration.
It is said 48 million active and retired workers in the country will be affected because of the move. Endit