Last week, Bolivia’s president, Evo Morales, decreed a special Christmas bonus for all state, military, police, and private sector salaried workers. The bonus consists of an extra month’s wages, on top of the current extra month’s pay December bonus, resulting in workers receiving triple their pay that month.

“The economy is good and the country’s growth should return to the workers with a double Christmas bonus,” said Morales during a meeting with union leaders. Bolivia’s Federation of Private Companies objected to the decree, saying it “bodes terrible for future investment.”

Bolivia’s government is the biggest employer in the country with about 300,000 employees, double the number from when Morales took office in 2005. His decree mandates that the Christmas bonus continue in future years if Bolivia’s gross domestic product grows by at least 4.5 percent annually.

Source: ABC News.