Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos expects the minimum wage will be above the inflation rate, newspaper El Tiempo reported today citing a national speech offered last night by the head of the state.

Annual inflation slowed more than expected in November, to 3.96 percent, after breaching the upper limit of the nation’s central bank target range in October for the first time since 2009. Colombia targets inflation of 2 percent to 4 percent.

Colombia’s government reached an agreement with workers and business leaders to raise the monthly minimum wage by 5.8 percent starting in January, Portafolio newspaper reported Dec. 15 without saying where it obtained the information.

The monthly wage was raised to 566,700 pesos ($293), the Bogota-based daily said.

Santos also said that next year the Andean country will have free public education and said Colombia already started the construction of 250,000 new houses.

Santos asked the immediate liberation of those kidnapped, without any conditions. He offered a Christmas national speech from the military based of Tolemaida, El Tiempo reported.