Alma Vilches
@AlmaCoLatino
Due to the increase in the cost of living, the Center for Consumer Defense (CDC) proposed to the President of the Republic, Nayib Bukele, to mandate the Ministry of Labor to install the National Minimum Wage Council and begin the discussion of increasing by 25 % to the minimum wage.
Danilo Pérez, executive director of the CDC, said that the basic urban basket in January 2021 had a cost of $199.24 and in March 2024 it is around $254.79, that is, there is an increase of $55.55, which represents 22% in accumulated interannual inflation.
Pérez explained that the basic rural basket cost $141.68 and went to a value of $183, an increase of $41.32, which represents an inflation of 23%.
“It is worrying because salaries have not increased since 2021, with the current minimum wages to buy the urban Basic Food Basket (CBA) and the payment of public and municipal services, workers need $8.99 more; while workers in the agricultural sector need another $47.29,” he explained.
Pérez expressed that the increase in charges for public services and municipal rates further influences the conditions of vulnerability of the middle class and poverty, as in the case of the increase of $23 in the cost of electric energy.
“Market relations will have to strengthen the institutional framework, and the application of the law where appropriate. The Consumer Law that we have in the country is one of the best in Latin America and the Caribbean, we do not need more teeth, the person who has to bite is the Consumer Ombudsman’s Office and at the moment it does not do so,” he expressed.
In Pérez’s opinion, there is a great challenge for the creators of public policies, and to give a change of direction because otherwise national poverty and the issue of nutritional food insecurity will continue to increase. The CDC proposed to start an update process that determines the price of the electricity rate in the country and eliminates the VAT charge, since in Central America El Salvador has the most expensive rate for the residential sector.
Another proposal is that the charges of those districts where municipal rates have been increased be reversed, and that the Consumer Ombudsman’s Office comply with protecting consumers so that users of the drinking water service affected by improper charges are compensated.
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