Economy Minister says wage bump to public sector workers will be 5 percent

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Brazilian Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said on Wednesday the Jair Bolsonaro administration could grant nothing more than a 5-percent linear wage bump to the civil service.

Government workers have been pressuring the government to increase wages in line with the inflation of the last two years, which, according to them, reaches 26 percent.

President Jair Bolsonaro and Mr. Guedes are acting in a “good cop, bad cop” dynamic. 

Mr. Bolsonaro continues to promise benefits to the police categories and has not yet been incisive about what the salary adjustment will actually be. The government has until the end of June to make a decision.

Mr. Guedes stated that the readjustment cannot be greater than cumulative inflation in the year-to-date, of 5 percent, as it is an election year. “The president would like to give the police a raise, but he can’t, it’s seen as buying them off,” he said.

• #government