Following the recent 12% increase in El Salvador’s minimum wage, the Consumer Protection Agency (Defensoría del Consumidor, DC) has stepped up nationwide monitoring efforts to prevent abusive price hikes. According to DC President Ricardo Salazar, the institution has identified significant increases in the prices of essential goods, triggering investigations and penalties.
“We have carried out inspections on products like coffee, basic grains, beans, corn, flour, and other key items in the basic food basket, where we observed recent increases of over 20 to 25%. This led to the initiation of investigations, and sanctioning processes are currently underway,” said Salazar.
So far, around 40 investigations have been launched, targeting major supermarket chains as well as food importers and wholesalers. An additional 112 cases have already resulted in sanctions, with fines totaling more than $502,000.
“We want to prevent any speculative price escalation related to the minimum wage increase, which is why we’ve continued our verification efforts. We’ve conducted over 13,500 inspections nationwide,” he added.
These actions are part of a broader government monitoring plan, which also includes the Ministry of Labor to prevent unjustified dismissals related to the wage adjustment.
The National Minimum Wage Council, which unanimously approved the increase, will continue meeting regularly to assess future wage revisions. Meanwhile, government institutions remain vigilant in safeguarding both consumers and workers across the country.