Brazil's Silva signs minimum wage hike Brazilian
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed a law Wednesday raising the nation's minimum wage by 8.5 percent, a measure that will affect millions of working-class Brazilians.
Beginning in April, the monthly minimum will rise from $163 to $177, an increase nearly three times the current annual inflation rate of 3.1 percent.
Nearly a third of Brazilian workers _ about 27 million people _ earn the minimum wage or less. Many others have salaries or pensions that are calculated according to the minimum. Opponents of the measure called instead for tax breaks to spur private investment in infrastructure.
Silva won re-election in October with ample support from the country's poor, who have benefited from his subsidies and minimum wage increases. At the same time, he has satisfied financial markets by reining in spending and keeping a tight fiscal policy.
The increase is expected to cost the government about $420 million. The president's office said in a statement, however, that the measure is expected to inject some $4 billion into the economy and generate $980 million in new tax revenue.
(Published by Houston Chronicle, December 27, 2006)