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its spending plans.”
If the global pandemic fears do affect global growth then investment will be the first thing that will be cut, says Tikhomirov.
4.5 Labour and income
4.5.1 Labour market, unemployment dynamics
Unemployment stood at 4.6% in February. The were no signs of deterioration in the labour market in February and in March, as the high frequency VTB Capital Google Trends employment insecurity index shows, but there are already reports of companies slashing wages as the crisis unfolds and unemployment is expected to climb, albeit from a low base.
Russia’s state-owned banks will offer companies interest-free salary loans to ensure they can keep paying workers during the coronavirus crisis. Sberbank and VTB will launch the pilot initiative next week, with backing from Russia’s Central Bank, for an initial period of six months, which could be further extended if the situation does not improve, Russian media reported.
A third of Russian firms have already started reducing wages, cutting hours or letting staff go as of the end of March as Moscow went into lockdown, a report found in the last week of March.
More than 70% of Russia’s citizens belong to the middle class, according to the World Bank’s system of estimation, and the task of the government is to strengthen their status and raise incomes, the Russian President Vladimir Putin said in the latest episode of a long-running series of interviews entitled “20 Questions with Vladimir Putin“.
48 RUSSIA Country Report April 2020 www.intellinews.com