After the announcement of a new call, a study prepared by the CTA reveals the loss of purchasing power with the new management of Javier Milei, due to low increases.
The situation of Minimum, vital and mobile salary In Argentina it is going through one of its most critical moments in decades. The purchasing power of the minimum wage collapsed brutally from the assumption of the current government, losing more than a third of its real value between November 2023 and April 2025.
The data belongs to a report prepared by Mariana L. González for the Research and Training Center of the Argentine Republic (figure) where it reflects that the fall of the minimum wage occurs in a context of accelerated inflation and low salary increase. In fact, the data reveal that, As of February of this year, the minimum wage represented less than a fifth of the average salary registered in the private sector. This figure shows its growing loss of relevance as a tool to guarantee a decent salary floor.
The current setback adds to the damage accumulated in previous years: compared to November 2019, The real minimum wage fell 44.1%and if measured against November 2015, the loss reaches 57.3%. If the purchase power had been maintained since 2015, the minimum wage would today be around 700,000 pesos.
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The panorama is even more alarming when comparing it with the basic baskets defined by INDEC. Today, the minimum wage covers only 58.1% of the basic food basket (indigence line) for a type type and just over 25% of the total basic basket (poverty line). These levels are worse than those registered during the 2001 crisis.
Historical evolution shows that the current real value of the minimum wage is lower than for a good part of the ’90s and similar to the convertibility crisis. According to figure, this degradation reflects the abandonment of the minimum wage as an active policy to reduce salary inequality.
Last increases far from inflation
During 2024, the National Employment Council, Productivity and Minimum Salary met four times, but in all They the lack of consensus led to the Ministry of Labor who imposed the nominal increases, mostly in line with business proposals. The last update, arranged in December 2024, consolidated the descending trend, with an additional loss of 7% in purchasing power.
The nominal increases granted in recent months were far behind the progress of prices. For example, between September 2023 and March 2025, the minimum wage rose from $ 132,000 to $ 296,832, which represents an increase of 124.8% in nominal terms, compared to accumulated inflation that tripled that percentage.
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Source: Ambito
