Port-au-Prince: Haiti raised the minimum wage by 25 percent on Tuesday, raising it from the equivalent of $3.87 a day to $4.84 to offset surging inflation.
Acting president Jocelerme Privert ordered the raise after labor unions last month demanded a hike to 500 gourdes, or $8.05, a day.
"In setting the minimum wage, the state has a duty to take into account sectoral realities and dynamics," said an official statement.
Already weak, Haiti's economy has slowed further because of a political crisis resulting from indefinite delays in the second round of presidential elections, which initially was scheduled for December 2015.
Haiti's annual inflation rate surpassed 15 percent in April.
Haiti's national currency, the gourde, has fallen in value over the past year from 47 to the US dollar in May 2015 to its current rate of 62-to-one.
AFP
