Ghana raises minimum wage by 20 percent

Ghana President John Atta Mills

Ghana raises minimum wage by 20 percent

Ghana has raised its minimum wage by 20 percent to 4.48 cedis per day, a committee of representatives of government, labour and private employers said in a statement on Thursday.

The hike comes as the West African state posts strong growth on oil, cocoa and gold revenues. It also follows a public sector wage increase of the same scale in 2011.

"It is a compromise figure reached after carefully considering all the relevant factors," Alex Frimpong, Executive Secretary of the Ghana Employers Association said.

He said the committee had considered the cost of living, constraints on businesses, and the economy.
Ghana has cut inflation in half since 2009 to below 10 percent by tightening fiscal policy, but concerns are mounting that the government may ramp up public spending ahead of elections this year.

This comes as Ghana's government has proposed a 20 percent reduction in fuel price hikes after labour unions threatened to go on strike, but the National Petroleum Authority has not yet signed off on the move, officials said.

In December Ghana announced a cut in fuel subsidies following an increase in crude oil prices and the depreciation of the Ghana cedi currency last year.

The price change saw the cost of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) increase by 30 percent while petrol and diesel went up 15 percent at the pump.

Reuters/Ugo