Brazil mulls minimum wage hike of 7.5 percent in 2017

The Brazilian government on Friday proposed a 7.5 percent rise in the minimum wage per month for workers starting January 2017.

In accordance with a new fiscal proposal put forward by the country's ministry of planning to the National Congress on Friday, the minimum wage per month will go up from about $249 to $268, Xinhua news agency reported.

There will be further hikes in 2018 and 2019, with 1,002 reais and 1,067 reais, respectively, according to the proposal.

Currently, the annual adjustment in the minimum salary is done by a calculation involving the previous year's inflation rate and results of gross domestic product over the last two years.

Brazil's GDP contracted by 3.8 percent last year, however, this new adjustment for 2017 only takes the inflation rate into consideration.

It is said 48 million active and retired workers in the country will be affected because of the move.