*Panama’s Labour Minister Doris Zapata has announced a rise in the minimum wage to take effect in the second half of January. Under the changes, which will be effective for 2024 and 2025, the minimum wage will increase by 4.5% for small companies, 6.0% for big companies, and 7.0% for the banana sector. The increase is above the rate of inflation which at the start of the year President Laurentino Cortizo said was running at 1.6% in annual terms, which he described as the “lowest in the region”.
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