The Mexican Government defended this Friday that the minimum wage has grown above inflation in the period 2019-2023so far in the six-year term of Andrés Manuel López Obradorwith a nominal growth of 135% in the period.
It is totally false that inflation has grown more than salaries in Mexico,” stated the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS) and the National Minimum Wages Commission (Conasami) in a joint statement.
According to official data, The current minimum wage has nominally increased by 135% compared to December 2018going from 88.36 pesos to 207.44 pesos in 2023.
Likewise, the Mexican authorities specified that the average contribution base salary, reported by the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), has increased by 50% in the last five years, reaching 531.5 pesos per day last October.
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By contrast, The STPS and Conasami highlighted that the inflation rate accumulates an increase of 27%while underlying inflation, which excludes highly volatile factors such as energy, accumulates 29% in said reference period.
In addition, they mentioned that the prices of agricultural products have risen by 34%, and the basic basket, determined by the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (Coneval), by 28%.
This implies that, in real terms, the minimum wage and the average wage have gained much more ground than prices, including agricultural prices, which include main food products and which are also the prices that have increased the most,” the Mexican Government stated. .
In addition, They insisted that the salary has grown above the minimum consumer prices defined by Coneval.
Since 2019, the first full year of López Obrador’s presidency, the minimum wage has seen double-digit annual increases, first 16%, then 20% in 2020, 15% in 2021, another 22% in 2022, and 20% in 2023.
Currently, the increase in the minimum wage is being discussed in Conasami, which must be defined no later than the last business day of December between the private sector, workers and the Mexican government.
So far, the private sector is driving an increase of 12.8%, as the Employers’ Confederation of the Mexican Republic (Coparmex) has maintained; while the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM), the largest workers union in the country, asks for 20%.
The Mexican Government has not specified its position publicly, but López Obrador has promised a “considerable” increase by 2024.
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EFE International news agency based in Madrid and present in more than 110 countries.