Chiles congress approves minimum wage hike

div classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodivpSANTIAGO Reuters – Chiles congress voted to approve an increase in the minimum wage on Wednesday as the Andean country struggles with soaring inflation. p

pChiles lower house supported adjustments made by the senate and 139 members of the 155member house voted to approve the 14.3 hike in minimum wage, which now awaits President Gabriel Borics signature.pdivdivdiv classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodiv

pBoric announced his support for the raise earlier in the day on Twitter and his government had negotiated the hike with a workers group last month.p

pThe increase will be a twostep hike with the monthly minimum wage going from 350,000 pesos to 413 to 380,000 pesos 448 on May 1 and then to 400,000 pesos 472 on Aug. 1.p

pThere will also be transitional compensation to help small and medium businesses adjust to the change.p

pA third hike to 410,000 483 in January 2023 will come into effect if the 12month inflation rate exceeds 7 in December.p

pChile, which reported its highest monthly inflation rate in more than 20 years this March, currently has a 12month inflation rate of 10.5.p

pBoric took office in March and his opinion poll approval numbers are declining. He has been under pressure to help households struggling with inflation and the economic impacts of the COVID19 pandemic.p

p

pp Reporting by Fabian Cambero and Alexander Villegas editing by Grant McCoolp

divdivdiv classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodivdivdiv