The current minimum wage only covers 43% of the cost of the basic food basket, according to official figures.
By:
EFE
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The Government of Nicaragua, a part of the private sector and Sandinista unions agreed on Thursday 20-A to freeze, until February 28, 2021, the average minimum wage of workers at 6,328.39 cordobas (183.5 dollars) at nine sectors of the economy, including micro, small and medium enterprises.
“Today the (National Minimum Wage) Commission is ratifying and signing the agreement to adjust the minimum wage that was established in the minutes on February 6 of this year,” said the Nicaraguan Minister of Labor, Alba Luz Torres, at the conclusion of the meeting.
Last February, the tripartite board approved a 2.63% increase in the minimum wage, which came into effect in March, until February 28, 2021 inclusive.
By law, the minimum wage is adjusted every six months according to economic growth and accumulated inflation in the Central American nation.
However, on this occasion the Commission decided to make an annual adjustment and not every six months, “aware of the need to maintain job stability and improve the salary conditions of workers,” according to the agreement.
Luis Barbosa, leader of the Central Sandinista de Trabajadores (CST) José Benito Escobar, told reporters that he was satisfied with the ratification of the agreement, which was also backed by the ruling National Front of Workers (FNT), led by the president of the National Assembly, the Sandinista Gustavo Porras.
Large companies did not participate in the Tripartite Minimum Wage Table due to the crisis that has kept the Government and the business sector apart since April 2018, and their place is occupied by a part of the Nicaraguan Council of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (Conimipyme ).
The current minimum wage only covers 43% of the cost of the basic food basket, according to official figures.
The Nicaraguan Gross Domestic Product (GDP) decreased by -3.9% last year, and -4% in 2018 due to the social and political crisis that has affected the country for two years, according to the Central Bank of Nicaragua.
For 2020 the authorities expected a growth of 0.5%, but last June the president of the Central Bank of Nicaragua, Ovidio Reyes, admitted that there will be a decline of between -4.0% and -4.5% as a result of the pandemic.
For its part, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) estimated -5.9% for Nicaragua this year.
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