BRAZIL: Minister Denies Rumors Regarding 2018 Minimum Wage

(RTTNews) - Brazil's Minister of Planning, Dyogo Oliveira, denied rumors on an alleged decision to reduce the next year's minimum wage adjustment in the country. In a video released on social networks, Oliveira clarified that the value of the minimum wage in 2018 would be only known after the 2017's official inflation rate release.

Since the publication of the new fiscal target for this year, when the minister said that an annual inflation rate below the initially estimated for 2017 could reduce the minimum wage adjustment forecast for 2018, reports have emerged on social networks and Whatsapp groups saying that the government has already decided to cut it.

In the video, the Brazilian minister of Planning affirms that these reports are fake news and states that the government did not reduce the minimum wage.

"The minimum wage remains at R$ 937 (US$ 296) and for 2018 will worth what is in the law, that is, the minimum wage will be adjusted for inflation. But the final figure will only be known in December, when we will have a more accurate figure on 2017 inflation rate," he said.

The minimum wage forecast for 2018 is R$ 979 (US$ 309,28), according to the next year's budget guidelines. However, since it is a forecast, the estimated value may change depending on the variables used in its calculation.