Venezuela’s Minimum Wage Will Be Pegged To Petro Cryptocurrency

Venezuela’s minimum wage will now be pegged to the Petro cryptocurrency as the national currency with the economy continuing to deteriorate since 2013 when Maduro took power, following the death of Hugo Chavez so let’s read more in today’s latest crypto news.

Venezuela’s President Nicholas Maduro announced a minimum wage increase to a crowd of 10,000. with the announcement, it is clear that Venezuela’s minimum wage will be pegged to half a Petro which is a cryptocurrency launched in 2018 and backed by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Maduro’s legitimacy as president however has been contested.

Nicholas Maduro as the president announced the nation’s minimum wage will rise to $30 from the previous level of $2 and he also said that this will be done by pegging the monthly minimum wage to the Petro cryptocurrency. Amidst the dire economic instability, a major increase in the minimum wage could improve the situation but many don’t agree with the statement.

Maduro announced an increase in the nation’s monthly minimum wage from $2 to $30 by pegging it to 0.5 Petro which is the sovereign cryptocurrency of Venezuela. Maduro made the announcement in front of 10,000 government employees just a day ago. He told the crowd:

 “You proposed to set the worker’s basic minimum wage to half a Petro, approved!”

The salary increase has been proposed for months and it is now made possible by setting aside the tax revenue for months as Maduro noted. He also said that vice president Delcy Rodriguez will push for the raise to go into effect this month by coordinating with the private sector. Petro on the other hand, Is a sovereign crypto asset backed by oil assets on the government permissioned blockchain on DASH. However, it is uncertain how fully it is back by the oil reserves and the price is set by the Central Bank of Venezuela which is sitting at $60.

While there has been some dissent about the legitimacy of the president, Maduro retains the loyalty of the military. About 50 countries however still recognize Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s president with the legitimacy of Maduro being highly contested. The South American country of 30 million suffered from heavy inflation with one example being that a cup of coffee rose 2600% from August 2020 to August 2021. the economy in the country has endured a seven-year-long recession and 5.6 million fled the country since 2014.