The dictator Nicolás Maduro has doubled the minimum wage which covers barely a tenth of the cost of the basic basket

The dictator Nicolás Maduro doubled the minimum wage in Venezuela, taking at about the equivalent of eight dollars a month, in the middle of a hyperinflationary spiral and a strong devaluation, according to a decree.

The basic salary went from 18,000 bolivares ($ 3.46) to 40,000 bolivars ($ 7.6), stable order published in the Official Journal.

Maduro also reactivated the payment of a food voucher fixing it at 25,000 Bolivares (4,8 dollars). This grant has no impact on the worker's benefits. The increase is retroactive to April 16.

In general, Maduro announces wage increases in compulsory radio and television; but this time his administration he just published the decree.

The new minimum income covers just one-tenth of the cost of the basic food basket, according to the Private Documentation and Analysis Center for Workers (CENDA). Reach to buy about four kilograms of beef.

Venezuelans are experiencing a severe economic crisis, with IMF inflation forecast to reach 10,000,000 per cent by 2019 and a shortage of medicines and basic necessities.

This is the second wage increase decreed by Maduro this year. The Socialist leader ordered six increases in 2018, without the Venezuelans can recover their purchasing power.

Since the government launched last August a plan for reforming the crisis that eliminated five zeros and began with a devaluation of 96%, the currency depreciated by an additional 98.8%.

The sanctions imposed by the United States add to the economic crisis. The entry into force of the ban to market Venezuelan crude into the US financial market hit a new high on Monday.

According to Maduro, the sanctions have caused 30,000 million dollars of damage to the national economy, which derives 96% of its oil revenues.

(With information from AFP)