06 April 2004 21:42
Russian finance minister promises to alleviate poverty
Moscow, 6 April: Russian Finance Minister Aleksey Kudrin has promised civil servants an annual 13-per-cent pay rise,
and consequently a growth in pensions, he said today, in answer to a question put by the ITAR-TASS correspondent.
"This year the wages of teachers and doctors rose by 13 per cent, and every year we shall put by in the budget
an increase of at least this value in the wages of this category of employees," the minister said.
At the same time, the finance minister expects the growth in wages to have a beneficial impact on pension provision
for citizens as well. "Once we have eliminated poverty, we will give the population the opportunity to earn money
for their pensions themselves," he said. So, civil servants will not be threatened with being left without the
savings part of their pension."
Earlier today, the minister reported that there will be a pension increment of up to R550 [presumably per month] for
those who fought in the Great Fatherland War [WW2].
He stressed that the government is aiming to raise pensions from the 30 per cent of the country's average wage
to at least 50 per cent. He stressed that at the present time the average pension is R2,100, and carrying out the reform
will mean that it can be substantially increased.
The president has set us the task of eliminating poverty," Kudrin recalled. "We shall do that and will be
able to go over to the normal market functioning of all the social systems, not only provision of pensions, but also of
education, health care, housing and utilities."
The minister said that an increase in the volume of the pay-roll fund to 1 per cent of GDP was already expected in
2005 due to cuts in the single social tax and the subsequent validation of wages.
The volume of the pay-roll fund in Russia in 2004 was estimated at R300bn.
[ITAR-TASS news agency] |
RUSSIA IN FACTS
