BANGKOK, Dec 26 Reuters Thailand will increase its minimum wage in January, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said on Tuesday confirming a previous deal, while the government plans to further raise it in March.

A wage committee, comprised of government, employers and employee representatives, had previously agreed to increase the daily minimum wage by 2.37, effective in January, but Srettha deemed the hike too low.

Srettha39;s ruling Pheu Thai party campaigned on populist platform with a key plank of raising the daily minimum wage to 400 baht, despite concerns over competitiveness.

Another investigation covering local wage rates and professional groups will conclude in March … to determine areas and groups that can increase wages, Labour Minister Phipat Ratchakitprakarn told reporters.

The current minimum wage is 328354 baht 9.49 10.24 varying between different parts of the country with the committee agreeing to raise the pay threshold range to 330 baht to 370 baht.

Companies have warned that increasing wages at a time when borrowing costs were increasing and Southeast Asia39;s secondlargest economy was lagging behind its regional peers could make industries less competitive.

Separately, Thailand39;s cabinet on Tuesday approved the central bank39;s headline inflation target range of 1 to 3 for 2024, unchanged from this year, Deputy Finance Minister Julapun Amornvivat said.

The announcement came after Thailand39;s headline consumer price index CPI came in at 0.44…