The National Institute of Development Information (INIDE) in its recent report, establishes that the basic basket of Nicaragua exceeded 19 thousand córdobas in January 2023. For its part, salaries range between 4,723.95 córdobas and a maximum of 10,571.78 córdobas.
The basic basket was located at C$19,023.13, the amount is slightly higher than the 18,981.55 córdobas reached in December and C$2,493.14 above what it cost in January 2022, which reflects an annual increase of 15%. The purchasing power of citizens is not enough to purchase even the food component that includes 23 products, the cost of which is 13,542.55 córdobas.
Related news: Basic basket less and less accessible: 2022 closed at almost 19 thousand córdobas
Among the products that showed the most upward trend are beef, specifically the post, which is positioned as the least accessible, being up to 140.29 córdobas per pound. Dry cheese also presented a significant increase in January, rising to 119.97 córdobas.
In order to complete basic products for household use, Nicaraguan families need 3,501.38 córdobas, while to feed themselves they need 13,576.44 córdobas.
On January 10, Forbes Central America magazine revealed that Nicaragua reached the highest inflation rate in the region during 2022 with 11.38%, a figure that translates as the loss of purchasing power of Nicaraguans to buy the products contained in the basket. basic.
In addition, regional experts have declared to independent media that “the Nicaraguan economy is not providing enough resources for citizens.” “Growth of 4% (estimated for Nicaragua by the World Bank and the BCN in 2022) and possibly 2.5% in 2023 is not enough to satisfy needs, much less to generate wealth,” Manuel Orozco of Diálogo Interamericano told La Voz. from America.
In 2022, the Tripartite Table agreed to an increase in the minimum wage of 7% in 2022, which placed Nicaragua’s basic salary at 6,978.34 córdobas, which in February of that year, the date it was approved, was equivalent to $196.13 and today they represent $192.45.
This negotiation was recently established again, but its members did not report whether there were exchanges of proposals. It was also not known if there was representation from the Superior Council of Private Enterprise (Cosep), the main employers’ leadership in Nicaragua, which has not participated in them since the sociopolitical crisis of 2018.
For years, the price of the basic basket has been taken as a reference to make the decision of how much the increase in the minimum wage will be, despite this, a salary increase has never been defined according to the price of the products of necessity for citizens.
