Sri Lanka's Parliament Speaker Abeywardena signs bill to raise minimum wages

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena Wednesday signed a bill to raise the monthly minimum wage by 12.5 per cent, days ahead of the island nation's presidential elections.

The Speaker endorsed the certificate on the bill titled 'National Minimum Wage of Workers (Amendment) Bill' in accordance with article 79 of the Constitution, the Parliament's Media office said in a statement.

The second reading debate on the bill to amend the National Minimum Wage Act No. 3 of 2016 was held in Parliament on September 3. The bill was passed without amendments and a vote.

Accordingly, the monthly minimum wage would be raised to 12,500 rupees from the previous 10,000, while the daily wage minimum would be 500 rupees from the previous 400.

Officials said the employees in the private sector would benefit from the new law.

The pledges made by the main presidential candidates to raise the state sector wages in the ongoing election campaign have raised controversy given the island’s economic crisis.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe, main opposition challenger Sajith Premadasa and Marxist JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake are the front runners among the record 38 candidates in the race for the presidential elections on September 21.