Inbamalar Wanarajan, the president of the Textile Clothing & Footwear Council, has raised concerns over the recent increase in minimum wage outlined in the 2024-2025 National Budget. She warned that the sharp increase could cause some textile factories to shut down. Wanarajan also proposed that worker productivity should be assessed first before any further wage increases are implemented.
The minimum wage is set to rise to $5 an hour starting April 1 next year, which according to Wanarajan is a major hike in a short timeframe. She mentioned that since 2022, wages in the textile industry have already increased by nearly 68% based on the current $4.50 rate and will see a total increase of 86% when the new rate is applied next year.
The Textile Clothing & Footwear Council president stressed the importance of correlating productivity gains with wage increases and urged workers to show more commitment to their jobs and improve their attendance. She further highlighted the issue of chronic absenteeism that needs to be addressed in the country.
Wanarajan described the new budget as well-balanced and with a strong foundation for future growth. She applauded the budget’s beneficial impact on the textile sector due to the elimination of the 3% import duty on raw materials.
Additionally, she expressed relief that the government positively addressed concerns raised by the textile industry regarding the import duty that was unexpectedly introduced in the previous budget. Wanarajan also gave a nod to the budget allocation for drug rehabilitation, believing it would lead to a healthier society and potentially improve productivity.