Page 52 - RusRPTFeb19

exaggerated the incomes of the population for the whole 2017. Without taking into account the lump sum payment, real incomes for 2018 showed a slight increase of 0.3%.
In December, the figure rose by 0.1%, but Rosstat revised down its estimate to a fall in real incomes in November to 3.1%. In the fourth quarter of 2018 real income decreased by 0.7% compared to the same period of the previous year.
Real incomes were growing in the first half of the year, but in the second they went into red, according to Rosstat data.Real wage gains were also in the black for most of the year but slowed in the last quarter to -2.9% in November from 0.3% gain in September. Real disposable incomes (after inflation, food and utilities are subtracted) also were negative in November after making positive gains in 2018.
Going forward no dramatic improvement in incomes is expected in 2019– 2020 and incomes will remain stagnate in real terms.
Russian public sector employees will enjoy a 4.3% increase in salaries in 2019, just ahead the current rate of inflation, Minister of Labour and Social Protection Maxim Topilin said in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta Some state employees like teachers and doctors, have already received pay rises as part of the social spending in Russian president Vladimir Putin’s May Decrees, but in general public sector employees have had their income frozen by the cash-strapped government. That followed on from nearly a decade of annual 10% increases in the boom years to close the gap between incomes in the public and private sector. Topilin was careful to clarify those public sector employees that have had larger hikes than the new 4.3% index will not have their pay reduced.
4.5.3 Retail sector dynamics
Retail sales fell back to 2.3% growth in December from a notable 3% y/y in November, and 2% y/y growth in October.
52 RUSSIA Country Report February 2019 www.intellinews.com