Santiago, Dec 4 (IANS) Chilean President Sebastian Pinera has said that he had submitted a proposal to offer aid to poor households, which comes amid ongoing anti-government protests.
The proposal, a bill of 124 US dollars per month in cash assistance to 1.3 million families, would cost the country some 185 million dollars in subsidies.
The bill is one of the latest in a string of concessions made by Pinera’s conservative government in an effort to placate the protests, which have been ongoing for more than a month and a half.
The measure “represents major relief, some help at a time when so many Chilean families need it,” Pinera said at a public event.
Pinera highlighted a plan announced on Monday to reactivate the economy by investing 5.5 billion dollars to promote micro-, small- and medium-sized businesses and create 100,000 more jobs.
His government has also pledged to raise pensions by 50 per cent, establish a guaranteed minimum wage, provide catastrophic health insurance, lower the cost of medication, and put a freeze or lower the cost of services such as electricity, water and public transit.
Pinera called on disaffected Chileans “to once and for all put an end to the violence, the fires, the looting, so our economy can start up.”
–IANS
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