Andean Group - April 2013 (ISSN 1741-4466)

Minimum wage increase approved. On 10 April President Evo Morales decreed an 8% salary rise for State sector workers, and a 20% increase to the minimum wage – both retroactive to January. Inflation in 2012 was 4.5%. The announcement had the broad agreement of the main umbrella trade union Central Obrera Boliviana (COB) which initially had made its annual fantastical call for a new monthly minimum wage of B$8,300 (US$1,199), based on its estimates of the cost of a basic basket of goods. The COB has made similarly-exaggerated demands for the past three years, to no avail. Last year the government raised the minimum wage from B$679.35/month (US$97) to B$815.40 (US$118).