Economy & Business - March 2026

COLOMBIA | Petro insists on minimum wage hike. On 19 February Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro issued a decree reinstating the 23.7% increase to the minimum wage which was suspended on 13 February by the Consejo de Estado, the country’s top administrative court. The court had said that the government had not justified the increase in sufficiently detailed macroeconomic terms. The new wage has been welcomed by trade unions but received a mixed response from business lobbies. Petro announced the new decree as he addressed a pro-government demonstration in the capital Bogotá, amid mobilisations around the country in support of the higher minimum wage. Petro told the crowd that “this is the first living wage in the history of Colombia, or at least since the 1991 constitution” which the government is also aiming to reform. The new minimum wage is Col$1.75m (US$474) per month, with an additional transport subsidy for lower earners of Col$249,000, which was raised by 24.5%.

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