Sri Lanka’s Parliament Speaker, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, has signed a bill to increase the minimum wage by 12.5 percent, just days before the presidential elections. The ‘National Minimum Wage of Workers (Amendment) Bill’ was endorsed in accordance with Article 79 of the Constitution, according to a statement from the Parliament’s Media office.

The bill, which amends the National Minimum Wage Act No. 3 of 2016, was passed without amendments or a vote during the second reading debate on September 3. Under the new law, the monthly minimum wage will rise from 10,000 to 12,500 rupees, and the daily minimum wage will increase from 400 to 500 rupees. The new law will benefit private sector employees.