Argentina's government, unions and industry leaders reached a deal on Friday to raise the minimum wage by 25 percent less than two months from a presidential election. The minimum salary will rise to 2,300 pesos ($518) from the current 1,840 pesos a month.
It is the eighth straight year the government has raised the minimum wage. Salary increases are closely watched as an indication of real inflation. Private economists put inflation at more than 20 percent in Latin America's No 3 economy, one of the region's highest rates and about twice the rate reported by the official INDEC statistics agency.
"This deal gives Argentine workers the best minimum wage in terms of buying power too," President Cristina Fernandez said in a speech at the Labour Ministry where the deal was reached. "I want to continue on this path." Center-left Fernandez won 50 percent of votes in an August 14 primary seen as a dress rehearsal for the October 23 election, and she is expected to win easy re-election for a second four-year term.
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