Argentina will raise the minimum wage by 21% in the face of high inflation

The Argentine Government made official this Friday (26.08.2022) a 21% increase in the minimum, vital and mobile wage in three tranches, going from 47,850 pesos per month (about 348 dollars) to 57,900 pesos (421 dollars) from November, official sources reported. The Executive thus tries to contain inflation, triggered both by internal causes and by the international situation, marked by the war in Ukraine and the increase in energy prices.
This increase in the minimum wage, published through a resolution in the Official Gazette, was agreed earlier in the week at the meeting of the Wage Council, a group made up of union representatives, employers and civil servants. The minimum wage will rise in Argentina by 21% in three tranches of 7% between September and November, with a review clause this last month.
They will also increase the minimum and maximum amounts of unemployment benefit, which will reach 16,083 and 26,805 pesos (117 and 195 dollars), respectively, next November. In addition, the “Empower Work” program, by which one million Argentines work collecting half of the minimum wage, the “Progresar Scholarships” and the minimum pensions, will be affected.
Once the three tranches of the increase have been finalized, the minimum, vital and mobile wage will have reached a total increase of 75% since the beginning of the year, amid an acceleration of the inflationary rhythm due to the strong macroeconomic imbalances of the country and the international situation.
According to the latest official data, prices in Argentina registered a year-on-year increase of 71% in July and accumulated an increase of 46.2% in the first seven months of the year, when last year it was 51%. Likewise, market analysts consulted monthly by the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (BCRA) projected in their latest report an annual inflation of 90.2% for December 2022, which could be higher.

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Original source in Spanish