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PERU PRESIDENT DOUBLES HER PAY
Damian Carnell
July 03, 2025
What’s the Story?
By official decree, yesterday the president of Peru doubled her salary.
This follows Dina Boluarte denying earlier this year reports that she was planning to increase her pay.
Boluarte’s public approval ratings stand at around 2%. Peru sees ongoing protests against her government‘s handling of rising gang violence and corruption.
Her pay rise reflects a pay study of 12 Latin American heads of state, where Peru ranked second to last, slightly ahead of Bolivia‘s president.
The Peru president has been involved in controversial money matters previously. There are allegations of failure to declare gifts, and luxury jewels and watches - a scandal dubbed “Rolexgate”.
Why Does it Matter?
The Peruvian president’s new pay package equates to US $120,000. Not a big number overall, but in a poor country, with an average wage of US $6,850, it is huge.
With less than a year of tenure to run, maybe the personal gain from the move seems not so bad. But that ignores the pension impact. Peru former presidents are paid a pension and the flow through benefit is much bigger than the in tenure value alone.
Further, fair pay should relate to doing a good job. With approval ratings of only 2%, a pay hike of this kind would be labelled by many as “Payment for Failure”.
But as a symbol of national pride, Peru should be seen to keep its place within the core of other major Latin American countries. The president’s salary is a small flag in this respect, but an easy one to adjust.
If one questions that national pride cost judgement, then think about Bolivia’s spend on its navy. A land-locked country, with aspirations to reclaim Pacific coastline lost to Chile in a long past war.
Yet that is not the main point - not even close. In 2023 NPR reported that Peru has set up Barbadillo, a prison specifically to house jailed former Peru presidents - and all three luxury cells are occupied.
Brazil, South Korea and France have all also jailed former presidents, the USA not so much.
Peru’s success in delivering justice to the once mighty is a source of national pride and is the envy of Latin America and beyond.
Newspoint view
Peru needs better. The people are famously friendly.
The jailed Peru ex-presidents are there mainly for corruption, with some human rights issues thrown into the mix. It is worrisome that ill gotten gains are large enough to risk incarceration.
Government pay should be judged at several levels, it is not open market determined in the same manner as big company jobs. This entails looking at the pay figures of course, but deep judgement on various aspects of fairness and contribution are needed too.
The Peru President pay hike story looks shocking at first. But it is not big money and it was done openly. That alone should be welcomed, irrespective of other views on the matter.
Fair pay can be a minor shield against the temptations of corruption. Yes a minor one, but a shield nonetheless.
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