President Duque’s message about the increase in the minimum wage for 2021 in the midst of the Fenalco assembly

Colombian President Iván Duque referred to the discussion on the salary increase in the national assembly of the National Federation of Merchants (Fenalco) that took place virtually this Friday and assured that the Government is open to discussions, as long as the situation generated by the pandemic is taken into account.

During that meeting, the president of Fenalco, Jaime Alberto Cabal, made a series of requests to President Iván Duque for the Colombian economy in 2021. Cabal reiterated the call for prudence that he had previously made to the national government when increasing the minimum wage.

The President replied that “This has been a government that has always acted with prudence. The call for prudence is not a call that can be made to this Government “He added that it was not that they had already resolved all the questions, but that they had been open to consultation considering the base indicators for discussion and the impact on the development of new jobs.

In recent days, the labor unions have rejected the proposal of the National Association of Financial Institutions (Anif) for the minimum wage to increase by 2% or 3%, that is to say between 17,000 and 26,334 pesos, while they expect it to be more than 13%. In the two years of Iván Duque’s mandate the increase has been 6%.

The plants started November proposing a significant increase: from 13.5% for the minimum to advance from $ 980,657 to $ 1’000,000, including the transportation subsidy of $ 120,000. This would mean an outlay of $ 1,120,000 for Colombians located in this salary range.

Read More: It does not reach a million pesos, ANIF puts its cards on the table for the negotiation of the minimum wage

The Colombian president assured that “within the framework of the National Concertation Commission the debates are welcome”, but stressed that in these conversations “Understand the condition of a pandemic and the urgent need for 2021 to translate into greater growth, greater jobs and opportunities ”.

This taking into account that the Ministry of Finance projected an economic fall of -6.8%, inflation and low productivity, Several sectors supported Anif’s proposal because, according to them, an extraordinary increase in the minimum wage would generate fewer jobs as it is more expensive to hire workers. For their part, the workers have stated that, If the economy is to be reactivated, it must be guaranteed that Colombians have money in their pockets.

Considering this situation, another of the requests that the president of Fenalco made to the President of the Republic made reference to the days of the Day without VAT. “The call we make is that the initiative of the three days without VAT becomes State policy, a plan that will help to recover the economy and employment. We understand from Fenalco that the government’s fiscal effort has been important, ”Cabal asked.

According to Iván Duque, this proposal is “in the Economic Growth Law. We already have the legal basis for it to be perfected in next year’s legislature and to continue to be a growth opportunity for trade, which is so important for the reactivation of the country ”, that is to say, having the initiative of the Day without VAT in that law, it becomes State policy.

The President added that since The National Government is also seeking that the advancement of the premium to workers is a state policy that is included in the reactivation of the country’s economy. The Days without VAT are already established until 2021, and proposals of the laws of entrepreneurship and tourism will also contribute to improve the economy.

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