In Russia, Ranks of the Poor Swelling

A homeless Russian man sleeps on the street in Moscow, Russia on January 20, 2016. (Photo: AA)

Moscow, 17 Jumadil Akhir 1437/26 March 2016 (MINA) – In 2015 the number of Russian citizens living in poverty rose to 19.2 million, reported Russian daily Argumenty i Fakty (AiF) this week.

“More Russians are getting poorer. If every ninth citizen in 2014 lived below the poverty line, then in 2015 it grew to one in seven,” AiF report. Anadolu Agency qyoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

Figures from the Russian Statistics Agency (Rosstat) suggest that in the past year, the number of poor increased by 3.1 million (13.4 percent of the total Russian population).

In 2014 in Russia, there were 16.1 million poor, compared to 19 million and 18.4 million respectively in 2008 and 2009, during the global economic crisis. The highest rate was seen in 2006, when 21.6 million people lived below the poverty line, according to AiF.

In relative terms, the deterioration in Russian income in 2015 set a record for the last 16 years. In year-to-year comparison, the number of poor rose 19 percent, noted financial daily Vedomosti, which reported this week that Russians have been sliding into poverty at a rapid pace.

In their forecasts, many Russian economists sounded disappointed.

“We’re not expected to return to the 2014 income level in less than 10 years. A slow rise in poverty in Russia may help to strengthen the ruble and the stabilization of the economy. Measures necessary for improvement require a rise in GDP, supporting domestic business enterprises to help them grow. This will create new jobs, reduce unemployment, and boost people’s incomes. We need to reduce the Russian economy’s dependence on the dollar and oil sales, in order to help strengthen the ruble and reduce inflation,” Businessman Sergey Varlamov told AiF.

Earlier Russian Labor Minister Maxim Topilin announced statistics based on a 2015 survey saying that the number of Russians whose income is below the subsistence level has risen by 3 million.

“For the year, this figure rose 3 million people in absolute terms, from 16 million to 19 million people who are below the subsistence level. Among those poor families, 60%-70% are with children and hence considered most vulnerable or worst affected,” Topilin was quoted as saying by AiF.

Topilin expects that the trend of falling real incomes will continue this year, but hopes that a fall in wages “will not be as dramatic. There may be a little decline in real wages, between 3-4 percent”.(T/P001/R07)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)