Page 32 - UKRRptFeb19

improved 15.4%, y/y while property income inched 3.0% y/y. Spending on goods and services surged 19.7% y/y.
“Higher wages and social payments continued to be the major contributors to individual income growth throughout 2018. At the same time, lower inflation has helped to maintain relatively high growth of real disposable income in real terms. We are likely to see slower growth of real disposable income in the fourth quarter of 2018, given the higher comparative base of the fourth quarter of 2017. We project real disposable income to increase 9.0-9.5% y/y in 2018 (vs. 10.9% y/y in 2017),” Evgeniya Akhtyrko of Concorde Capital said in a note.
Pension and wage hikes take effect, affecting millions . Pensioners who served in the military – as well as those with long work experience – began receiving higher pensions as of January 1, affecting 2mn citizens, according to Vice Prime Minister Pavlo Rozenko, as reported by epravda.com.ua. Their pensions rose UAH172 to UAH1,669 per month, according to the 2019 budget. Pensions for other categories will rise between 15% to 40% on March 1, affecting 11mn citizens, Rozenko said. In addition, the monthly minimum wage increased UAH450 to UAH4,173 as of January 1, according to the 2019 budget. These pension and wage adjustments were approved by parliament in 2017. Now President Poroshenko hopes they will convince enough Ukrainians that progress is being made in raising living standards, and voting for Yulia Tymoshenko won’t be necessary. It’s possible that these increases, however small they are by Western standards, will give the president a boost in his poll ratings in the coming months.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told voters that he is confident that the average wage in Ukraine will grow to UAH10,000 ($350) in the first quarter of 2019 , Ukrinform.com reports.
Ukraine is the poorest country in Europe , according to the last World Bank Global economic outlook, but with crucial presidential elections slated for the end of March the government has been rolling out initiatives that will deliver some cash into the voters pockets.
However, incomes have been rising this year as the economic recovery from the collapse of 2015 starts to take hold. Real wages in Ukraine grew 14.2% y/y in October, accelerating from 12.9% y/y growth in September, the State Statistics Service reported on November 28. The average monthly nominal wage rose to UAH9,218 a month ($328) from UAH9,042 in September, growing 0.2% m/m in real terms.
In addition the Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman instructed the newly appointed head of the Pension Fund Yevhen Kapinos to raise pensions for military personnel from March 1, 2019, as well as to conduct a massive automatic recalculation of pensions to other categories of pensioners in November, the government portal website reported.
A possible increase in the minimum wage is also on the cards for the start of next year. The government hiked the minimum wage at the start of 2017 but refrained from another hike at the start of this year as the government was short of funds.
Poroshenko noted in his speech this week that such the pace of growth in salaries should be kept up in order to win back the labour, which have been
32 UKRAINE Country Report February 2019 www.intellinews.com