The minimum wage in Venezuela reaches half a dollar per month

International writing.- The minimum wage in Venezuela reached half a dollar per month this Tuesday, according to the exchange rate of the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV), an amount that is complemented by government bonuses of up to 160 dollars, paid at the day's rate of the issuing body to public employees and without affecting the calculation of labor benefits. The dollar was located this Tuesday at 262 bolivars, the national currency, according to the official rate of the BCV. The minimum wage, which does affect labor benefits such as vacations, severance pay, and profit sharing, remains at 130 bolivars since March 2022, when it was equivalent to about $30 a month. However, it is "practically impossible" to live on this amount in Venezuela, an economist told EFE, who requested anonymity and pointed out that Venezuelans resort to bonuses, remittances and aid to subsist.

Is it possible to increase the minimum wage?

In the economist's opinion, the right question is not what is done with such a low minimum wage in Venezuela, but what is happening in the economy that it cannot be increased. "Due to its own inertia, the Venezuelan economy cannot support high salaries because its productivity is low and its operating costs are high," explained the expert. Furthermore, he indicated that increasing the minimum wage is "unfeasible" for two reasons: due to the volume of public employees and pensioners dependent on the State versus Venezuela's income. In this sense, it was pointed out that the public payroll in charge of the Government amounts to around 5,545,000 employees - according to figures from the civil association Transparencia -, to which are added more than 4,500,000 pensioners - according to the NGO Provea -, who receive half a dollar a month, since the pension is equivalent to the minimum wage. Therefore, increasing the salary to $250 a month for all those people, for example, "would far exceed the entirety of oil export revenues and tax collection" of Venezuela.

«There are not enough state resources to raise the minimum wage to those magnitudes», sentenced the economist, who believes that, however, it could be increased above current levels, given the higher state revenues compared to previous years. However, he did not provide a figure, arguing that it "depends on the government's fiscal situation, for which - he warned - there are no reliable published statistics."

Government Bonds

In recent years, the Government of Venezuela has maintained the minimum wage without increases, but has increased its bonuses, which it defends as "a novel strategy to combat the economic war, the blockade and the sanctions", as well as to "avoid inflation". Government bonuses to public employees are made up of a food bonus, of 40 dollars, and another called "economic war income", of 120 dollars. Provea has insisted that, according to the Constitution, the Venezuelan State "has the obligation to guarantee a sufficient income for a dignified life, periodically adjusted to the cost of the basic basket," whose cost was in April 503.73 dollars, according to the latest available data from the organization Center for Documentation and Analysis of the Venezuelan Federation of Teachers (Cendas-FVM).