Page 42 - RusRPTMay20

4.5% of the unemployed,” Kudrin said. According to the Federal State Statistics Service, Russia’s unemployment stood at 4.7% in March.
On April 23, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced that the programme for subsidised wage lending was extended to large businesses​: according to the Ministry of Economic Development, the total volume of loans issued should reach RUB305bn. 75% of such loans will be guaranteed by VEB.RF. In addition, he reported that some 1mn organisations and individual entrepreneurs will be able to use a one time payment of RUB12.1k per employee for qualifying SMEs, and the total amount of expenses are to exceed RUB80bn. It was also announced on April 23 that the programme of providing bank loans to systemically important enterprises for replenishment of working capital would be launched soon and that its potential volume could reach RUB1tn (up to 50% to be guaranteed by the Government).
4.5.2​ Income dynamics
Real disposable income of Russians went down by 0.2% in 1Q20, according to the latest data by Rosstat statistics agency.
As reported by ​bne IntelliNews​, real disposable income has been in decline since 2013, finally recovering to only 1% growth in 2019, but incomes are expected to dive again in 2020 by up to 5%​.
Small businesses and consumers are expected to be hit hardest, with recent reports warned that consumer demand could take up to ​three years to recover from the coronavirus​ (COVID-19) stop-shock.
Analysts surveyed by ​Vedomosti​ daily on April 26 attribute the first decline in disposable income on January-March 2020 to ruble devaluation and instability on the oil market. The worst hit to incomes (of up to 14% decline) is expected
42​ RUSSIA Country Report​ May 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com