Venezuela's President Orders 15% Wage Increase by December

President Nicolas Maduro is boosting Venezuela's minimum wage to protect workers' salaries from inflation running at nearly 60% a year. The socialist president said the 15% raise taking effect in December was necessary to defend workers' earnings from inflation that he blames on an economic war his enemies are waging on the country. The move comes a week after Maduro increased military salaries by 45%, although economists say raising wages can feed an inflationary spiral. Critics say the government is essentially printing too much money and by some estimates, Venezuela has the highest inflation in the world.

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