KUALA LUMPUR — At construction sites, plantations and factories, millions of low-income workers across Malaysia are set to receive a pay raise.

About 3.2 million such workers are expected to benefit from the newly announced introduction of the country’s first minimum wage, part of the government’s plan to transform Malaysia into a high-income nation.

But reactions to the government’s decision to introduce a minimum wage varied Tuesday, with one economist dismissing the move as an election gimmick designed to appeal to workers before voting that many expect could be held as early as next month.

The minimum wage will be set at 900 ringgit per month, or $297, for workers on the Malaysian Peninsula, and 800 ringgit for those in the states of Sabah and Sarawak, on the island of Borneo, Prime Minister Najib Razak said late Monday, in announcing the details of the new legislation.