When participating in a ceremony celebrating the 90 years of the minimum wage in Brazilthe President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said, this Friday (16), that the value of the minimum wage adopted in the country is very low.
“We are not making this act of support for the value of the minimum wage. Because the value of the minimum wage is very low in Brazil. We are making support here for the idea of a President of the Republic who, in 1936, created the possibility of establishing a wage that guaranteed workers basic rights.”
Among the rights of workers mentioned by Lula in his speech are the right to live, eat and study, in addition to the right to come and go. “Since it was created, the minimum wage has not met these requirements of the law’s intention,” said the president during the ceremony in Rio de Janeiro.
New value
THE new minimum wage, worth R$1,621came into effect from January 1st of this year. The adjustment applied was 6.79% or R$103. The previous minimum wage was R$1,518.
The value was informed after the publication of the National Consumer Price Index (INPC), used to calculate the annual minimum wage adjustment. The indicator registered 0.03% in November and accumulates 4.18% in 12 months.
According to the estimate of the Inter-Union Department of Statistics and Socioeconomic Studies (Dieese), the new minimum wage will inject R$81.7 billion into the economy. The calculation considers the effects on income, consumption and collection, even in a scenario of stricter fiscal restrictions.
Understand
The minimum wage adjustment rule determines that the value has two corrections: one for the 12-month INPC accumulated until November of the previous year, that is, 4.18%, and another for the two-year economic growth. On December 4, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) reviewed the data on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP, sum of goods and services produced in the country) for 2024, confirming expansion of 3.4%.
However, the fiscal framework, the mechanism that controls the evolution of public spending, determines that the gain above inflation is limited to a range of 0.6% to 2.5%.
According to the rule, the minimum wage in 2026 would be R$1,620.99 and, with the rounding provided by law, it becomes R$1,621, an adjustment of 6.79%.
