MACROECONOMICS - BANDUNG. The West Java administration has set Karawang regency’s minimum wage at Rp 3.92 million (US$289.99), the highest in the country.
Karawang is among 27 regencies and municipalities in West Java that will have their 2018 minimum wage set by the province’s governor, Ahmad Heryawan.
“He signed a gubernatorial decree on the 2018 minimum this morning [Tuesday morning],” West Java Manpower and Transmigration Agency head Ferry Sofwan Arief said on Tuesday evening.
Meanwhile, Pangandaran regency has the lowest minimum wage at Rp 1.56 million. In the decree, West Java’s minimum wage for 2018 is set at Rp 1.54 million. As a comparison, minimum wage in Jakarta stands at Rp 3.3 million in 2017. With an 8.71 percent increase, workers in Jakarta will enjoy minimum wage of Rp 3.6 million next year.
Ferry said the minimum wage had been set based on Government Regulation (PP) No.78/2015 on wage matters. The PP has mandated an 8.17 percent annual minimum wage increase, he said.
He said business players who objected to the regulation could file a request for a delay in the implementation of the new minimum wage until Dec.22.
Ferry further explained that the 8.71 percent wage increase had taken into account Indonesia’s inflation of 3.72 percent and 4.99 percent economic growth.
He said the West Java administration received recommendations from 27 regents and mayors before it determined the province’s minimum wage. Representatives of business players, worker unions and regional administrations were involved in deciding the 2018 minimum wage.
