The labor ministry’s salary review committee will meet on Sep 1 to discuss raising the minimum wage. According to the latest government data, the minimum wage is expected to be adjusted upward next year for the seventh time in a row, with an increase of 4.8%. Unions say inflation is a serious problem and hope that the government can raise the minimum wage by 5.71%, the amount raised last year. However, business leaders on the management side think if the government can’t provide businesses with sufficient subsidies to deal with the salary increase, they may have to cut jobs or raise prices to let consumers pay for the extra costs.

According to the latest data from the government’s statistics agency, the nation’s economy will grow by 3.76% and the consumer price index, a measure of inflation, will increase by 2.92% annually. The minimum monthly wage is expected to reach NT$26,242 next year and the minimum hourly wage NT$176.