Venezuela doubles GDP, and is set to raise the minimum wage

[Peace Patriot]

Minimum Wage Set to Rise Once Again, Says Venezuela’s Chavez

By JUAN REARDON - VENEZUELANALYSIS.COM

Mérida, April 7th 2011 (Venezuelanalysis.com) – On Wednesday Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez announced plans to raise the country’s minimum wage “within the coming days,” promising “justice” for working families. Chávez made the announcement days after popular pressure was raised on the issue by Venezuela’s National Workers’ Union (UNETE) and Communist Party (PCV). Meanwhile, Venezuela’s Central Bank announced economic growth figures for the first quarter of 2011 (January – March), affirming the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose by 3 to 4% - at least double the 2% increase expected for the year.

Speaking to reporters during a ceremony at Fuerte Tiuna – a large military base located within Caracas city limits – Chávez detailed his plans to raise the country’s “minimum wage and pensions for each of the different sectors of national life: teachers, military personnel, doctors, and each of them have their own rhythm.”

The government’s overall objective, said Chávez, is for the Venezuelan people to “have an ever-improving and integral salary.”

“This isn’t just about monetary income,” Chávez said. “It’s about a number of things: cheap vehicles, sufficient and affordable food, economic and high-quality housing, (access to) credit, and pensions that are adequate and just.”

(MORE)
(my emphasis)

http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/6121

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Great to see somebody in this hemisphere who cares about workers and ordinary people and gives the finger to "organized money" (as FDR put it) when needed!

[spanza]

1. Careful.. the OP is manipulative and incorrect

I believe it's your own interpretation when you say "Venezuela doubles GDP".

The nominal GDP grew 3-4% in the 1st quarter of 2011 and, from that observation, you conclude that the Venezuelan GDP has doubled...!? Amazing.

By the way, inflation was around 2%/month in the same period.

What's your conclusion? Is there any growth or quite the contrary?

Ah, usual stuff from t̶h̶e̶ ̶V̶e̶n̶e̶z̶u̶e̶l̶a̶n̶ ̶C̶o̶n̶s̶u̶l̶a̶t̶e̶ venezuelanalysis.

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Thanks for posting this information, Peace Patriot. K & R. n/t

[ChangoLoa]

3. Minimum wage at its lowest level since 2005

El avance inflacionario ha sido lo suficientemente fuerte para derribar el potencial de compra del salario mínimo a su nivel más bajo de los últimos siete años.

Inflation beats the rise of the minimum wage which has seen its purchasing power hit a 7 year low.

En marzo, con una remuneración básica de 1.223,89 bolívares se podía cubrir 84,2% del costo de la canasta alimentaria que, según reportó este jueves el Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE), se ubicaba en 1.452,2 bolívares al cierre del mes pasado.

In march, the minimum wage only covers 84.2% of the basic alimentary needs, according to the INE (State's Stats Institute)

El resultado representa el peor nivel para un mes de marzo desde el año 2005, cuando el salario mínimo permitía adquirir 91,5%.

It is the worst result since march 2005, when it had covered 91.5% of the basic alimentary needs


Link :
http://www.eluniversal.com/2011/04/16/el-salario-minimo-esta-en-su-peor-nivel-en-siete-aos.shtml

[Judi Lynn]

5. The last three paragraphs indicate reasons to be optomistic, by all means:

According to Venezuelan Central Bank (BCV) figures, Venezuela’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose between 3 and 4% in the first three months of 2011. During the same period last year, the country’s GDP suffered a decline of 5.2%.

On Thursday, BCV President Nelson Merentes confirmed that Venezuela’s national economy “is evolving better than was expected” and reiterated the Central Bank’s prediction that overall growth in 2011 will level out at 2%, a break from two years of decline.

Merentes associated the elevated GDP to both public and private spending on infrastructure, an increase in international trade, higher oil revenues than expected, and a swell in housing developments in response to last year’s ravaging floods that left hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans homeless.

[joshcryer]

6. Only if you ignore the effect inflation is having on wages.