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In Venezuela, Huge Wage Boost Means Little


Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro holds a poster explaining the new minimum wage as he speaks during a news conference in Caracas, April 30, 2018.
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro holds a poster explaining the new minimum wage as he speaks during a news conference in Caracas, April 30, 2018.

Venezuela raised its minimum wage to 1 million bolivars per month on Monday, the third increase this year that puts the figure at just $1.61 at the black market exchange rate.

President Nicolas Maduro’s announcement of the 155 percent rise — or 13 percent fall, in dollar terms — came three weeks before a presidential election. It accompanies a monthly food ticket now worth just over 1.5 million bolivars.

The once-rich OPEC country is in the midst of an economic crisis in which millions earn just a couple of dollars per month, suffer food and medicine shortages and battle soaring inflation.

Maduro blames an “economic war” waged against his government by Washington and the country’s opposition.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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