Lima: Peruvian President Ollanta Humala raised the minimum wage on Wednesday by 13 percent to 850 soles ($252) per month, effective May 1, following pay-increase proposals by the country's presidential candidates.
Humala, a former leftist military officer who turned conservative after taking office, last increased the minimum wage to 750 soles in 2012. His administration ends on July 28 and he is constitutionally barred from seeking a second consecutive term.
Inflation quickened to 4.4 percent last year and the central bank expects it cool to around 3 percent by the end of the year.
Humala signed a decree authorizing the new minimum wage before a crowd of supporters in the highland region of Puno, one of the poorest in Peru.
"You all will be the judge of who can do better than this government. When candidates come here looking for votes ... don't settle for just anything," Humala said.
Center-right Keiko Fujimori, the front-runner in the April 10 elections, had said she might raise the minimum wage but did not offer a figure. Her chief rival, investor-favorite Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, has proposed 850 soles.
Leftist lawmaker Veronika Mendoza, third or fourth in opinion polls, has promised an increase to 1,000 soles.
Kuczynski was seen in recent polls as beating Fujimori narrowly in an expected run-off contest in June.
Humala's party withdrew from presidential and congressional elections earlier this month after trailing far behind others in polls. Humala has not endorsed any candidate and his approval rating has sunk in recent years.
Economic growth in Peru has slowed at the end of a decade-long mining boom but has been recovering on surging copper output from new mines.
Reuters
