The Venezuelan government will increase the minimum wage 25 percent from the beginning of May, according to a decree published in the Official Gazette on Wednesday.

The presidential decree includes both the public and private sectors and the rise will be implemented in two stages, with the first 15 percent rise to take effect in May and the last 10 percent taking effect from September.

With the rise Venezuelan workers will now have a minimum wage of 360 U.S. dollars a month, up from as before it was of 285 dollars.

President Hugo Chavez, during a public event announcing the salary increase on Tuesday, said it includes the remunerations system of employees from the public administration and the more than 1.8 million pensioners and retirees.

Political opponents to Chavez, however, consider that this measure will increase the country’s inflation, which in Venezuela in 2010 reached 27.2 percent, making it the highest in South America. Venezuelan inflation in 2011 has been projected to drop to between 23 and 25 percent.

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Japan’s industrial production plummeted a record 15.3 percent from the previous month in March on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry said in a preliminary report on Thursday.

The record decline in the recording period was due to the March 11 twin disasters that destroyed infrastructures, damaged production facilities and severely disrupted key supply chains, the government said.

March’s figure far exceeded median economists’ expectations for an 11.4 percent drop and the index stood at 82.9 against the base of 100 for 2005.

Industrial shipments plummeted 14.3 percent to 85.3 and industrial inventories dropped 4.3 percent to 97.6, the government data showed.

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Procter & Gamble Company, the world’s largest consumer-products company, posted strong earnings during the quarter from January 1 to March 31, the company announced Thursday in a financial report.

The net earnings from continuing operations was 2.873 billion U.S. dollars during the period ended March 31, an increase of 11 percent from the same period of 2010.

The diluted net earnings per share (EPS) from continuing operations was 0.96 U.S. dollars, up 16 percent from the prior-year period, said the company.

The net sales totaled 20.23 billion U.S. dollars, growing 5 percent, driven by 5 percent volume growth, as well as favorable pricing and foreign exchange, partially offset by geographic and product mix.

“The growth fundamentals of our business are strong,” said P&G’ s Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer Bob McDonald. “We delivered broad-based volume, sales, and market share growth, and grew EPS in a very difficult operating environment.”

Moreover, operating cash flow was 4.1 billion U.S. dollars for the quarter, while free cash flow, which is operating cash flow less capital spending, was 3.2 billion U.S. dollars and 113 percent of net earnings.

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