Nigeria’s federal parliament on Tuesday passed a bill to more than double the minimum wage, with authorities warning against demonstrations to protest the rising cost of living.

The monthly minimum wage is expected to increase from 30,000 to 70,000 naira (about 39.60 euros) after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approves the bill. The text was quickly approved by the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Parliament also reduced from five to three years the period of validity of the collective agreement in the African country’s public sector.

The adoption of the bill was “important for the Nigerian people”, said Godswill Akpabio, the Senate president and a member of Mr Tinubu’s APC party.

The cost of living has risen dramatically since Mr Tinubu ended the costly fuel subsidy and loosened controls on currency exchanges after taking office in May last year.

Inflation hit a record high — at 34.19% — in June. And food inflation topped 40.87 percent, according to official data from Nigeria’s national statistics office.

Unions accepted the government’s proposal to increase the minimum wage after months of deadlocked negotiations, although it was much lower than what they were demanding.

The new pay scale applies to federal public sector workers — civil servants, airport staff, teachers and others.

The passage of the bill was announced amid calls on social networking sites for citizens to take to the streets to demonstrate in August in protest of Mr Tinubu’s economic policies.

Africa’s most populous country has seen a series of strikes in recent months as labor unions demand higher wages.