Mexico raises the minimum wage by 12% to fight poverty

On Wednesday, Mexico’s government said it would raise the minimum wage by 12% starting next year. This is to help the poorest workers, and the country’s new leftist president promised that the increase would not make inflation worse but instead support a “humanist” economy.

Labor Minister Marath Bolanos told the press about the expected wage at President Claudia Sheinbaum’s usual morning press conference.

The minimum wage in Latin America’s second-largest economy is now almost 249 pesos ($12.23) a day. This is because the previous leftist government raised it sharply over the past few years, which fans saw as a major accomplishment.

Bolanos said that the minimum wage has more than doubled, going up by 135% since the government of Sheinbaum’s predecessor.

The new raise means that the daily wage set by the government will go up to 278.80 pesos in most of the country. However, in parts of northern Mexico close to the US border, where wages are higher, the daily wage will go up to about 420 pesos.

The boost comes from a deal between the business and labor groups of the country.

“We continue on the path to rebuild the minimum wage and the purchasing power of Mexican men and women,” Bolanos said.

When Sheinbaum took office in October, she promised that her government would raise the minimum wage by about 12% every year. After her labor chief stated the price increase, she pushed back against critics who say a 10% increase will hurt consumers by making prices go up.

“They said that if this happened, food prices would go up.” Sheinbaum said, “That’s not true.” She used figures from the central bank to show that the 12% increase would not cause any inflationary problems.

The minimum wage will slowly be raised until it reaches the level needed to cover the daily needs of a family of three and a half people. This will happen by the end of her term.

The end of Sheinbaum’s six-year term is in 2030.

$1 is equal to 20.3550 Mexican pesos.