Page 62 - RusRPTOct20

4.5.2​ Income dynamics
Real wages unexpectedly increased +2.3% y/y in July​ against the +0.1% y/y Bloomberg consensus estimate. As uncertainty abates, consumer demand is likely to gather strength.
Nearly one in seven Russians live below the poverty line. ​In the second quarter of 2020, the number of Russian citizens, whose revenues sank below the minimum subsistence level was 1.3mn higher than the same period last year, and reached 19.9mn, according to the Russian Federal State Statistics Service. So, some 13.6% of citizens are poor now, which translates to nearly one in seven Russians, Vedomosti writes.
Real wages were up 5% in July y/y, reports the State Statistics Service.
The biggest growth sectors, in nominal terms, were: medicine and social services - +18% y/y; and IT and telecom - +14.4% y/y.
Former Russian Prime Minister and President Dmitry Medvedev announced that Russia might introduce a universal basic income (UBI) for all Russians post-pandemic worth three-times the subsistence level. Medvedev says the pandemic has caused him to reassess how the government deals with the financial security of citizens. The UBI is an overarching social security system in, which the government provides a certain amount of money to every single citizen each month. The aim of UBI is to ensure that everyone has enough money for basic subsistence living. Andrey
62 ​RUSSIA Country Report​ October 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com