#6
Russian salaries grow, unemployment falls - State
Statistics Committee
Interfax
Moscow, 26 December: The average monthly salary in Russia has grown by 46.2 per cent in 2001, and the growth of real salaries, with inflation taken into account, has amounted to 12 per cent, read materials of the Russian State Statistics Committee submitted to a session of the Russian government, which plans to sum up economic outcomes of the outgoing year on Thursday [26 December].
The highest salaries this year were registered in the gas and oil sectors (R15,000 and R14,500 respectively). In the agriculture sphere, the average monthly wages were R1,481, in the education sphere R1,862, and in the healthcare system R1,959.
As of 1 December, arrears on salary payments in Russia were R34.8bn, shrinking by R3.1bn since the start of 2001. The share of budgets of all levels in arrears is only 13 per cent at the present time.
According to the Statistics Committee, pensions were indexed twice this year, and the average pension in Russia is R1,134 per month now, increasing by 40 per cent since the start of the year.
The average subsistence level in 2001 will stand at R1,600. According to the Statistics Committee, 27 per cent of the population are below the poverty line now, while in 2000 this index was 30 per cent.
The overall number of Russian unemployed calculated according to the International Labour Organization methodology will be 6.3m people by the end of 2001, while in January this figure was 7.1m people. At the same time, only about 1m people are officially registered as unemployed, with 976,000 vacant jobs currently existing in the Russian economy.
In the first 10 months of this year, 410 enterprises were privatized, against 301 in the same period last year.
According to Ministry of Economic Development and Trade proposals, Russia is expected to abolish the foreign currency purchase tax and to introduce a real estate tax instead of a property tax. It is also expected to work out measures to simplify the system of taxation of small businesses.
In addition, pursuing the policy of debureaucratization of the economy, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade suggests that a total economic census of all businesses be carried out.
Next Article