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The Minister of Finance, Ignacio Briones, reported that for the Government’s minimum wage readjustment proposal for the period between September 2020 and September 2021, a nominal variation of 0.4% and a real 0% will be considered, therefore which will be $ 322,000.
Regarding the proposal, criticized by opposition parliamentarians, the Secretary of State explained that it is the reflection of several factors, such as the fall in economic activity, a situation that is equivalent to what existed in the country three years ago, when the salary minimum was $ 291,426.
Briones highlighted the Guaranteed Minimum Income, an initiative promoted by the Government to help combat the Covid-19 pandemic in the country, where workers with incomes between $ 301,000 and $ 384,363 were eligible for a maximum state contribution of $ 59,200.
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That is why, he explained, for every $ 1,000 that the minimum wage increases, the worker would receive an increase for only $ 90, this because as his income rises, he loses part of the state subsidy.
“So, in these moments of great crisis, instead of raising the cost of hiring the merchant, the owner of a restaurant, the SME, we want the State to assume it through this guaranteed minimum income subsidy,” said Briones .
“For us as the Ministry of Finance, there would be nothing more comfortable than raising the minimum wage by $ 10,000 or $ 20,000, because we would save the Guaranteed Minimum Income subsidy,” he added, warning that although the minimum wage readjustment proposal is made by the Executive, that value is paid by employers.
“We all understand that if the employer puts it, there are more chances that he will not be able to hire that person, will not be able to hire new people or even will not be able to keep his employees,” said Briones.
