Posted on 08/01/2005 1:20:38 PM PDT by jb6
Moscow, August 1 (RIA Novosti commentator Peter Lavelle). According to Economy Ministry data released Friday, the average monthly wage slightly surpassed 8,655 rubles ($303) in June. This increase means wages have grown one and half times over the past 18 months.
The $300-level is a new benchmark for wage growth. The average monthly income in December 2003 was $200, or the same as it was in 1999 and before the August 1998 financial crisis, which saw this figure drop to $70. Economy Ministry statistics report the increase in income was primarily the result of increases in budget-based salaries, which rose 38% year-on-year during the first five months of this year as opposed to a 31% increase in private sector salaries for the same period. Inflation whittled away part of the increase with growth in real incomes at 8% vs. 14%.
While the average salary has grown at a very robust rate, income differentials remain significant. The income gap between the top 10% and bottom 10% of the population remains at 26 times, and a quarter of the population continues to live below the poverty line.
In relation to other CIS countries, Russia compares favorably. Ukraine's average monthly salary stands at $164.75 and Belarus' at $221.5. The comparison to Eastern European countries is less impressive - Lithuania's average salary at $445.5, the Czech Republic at $710.9, Estonia at $575.4, Poland at $729.7, and Hungary at $771.4.
Strong wage growth is underpinning Russia's current consumption boom and is supported by increased budget revenue from high international commodity prices. When the ruble strengthens against the U.S. dollar, rising income makes the domestic currency more attractive to hold and lowers the velocity of money, as well as lowers inflationary pressures.
In juxtaposition, when the ruble weakens against the dollar as wages increase, as has been the case recently, demand for the dollar increases. Under these conditions, keeping inflation in check is more difficult, as witnessed by the government having to revise upward its inflation forecast.
Do I see this correctly ? You say the AVERAGE Russian has the purchasing power of top 10% of Americans ? I have a very hard time believing that.
same here
"By PPP the average Russian makes $9,800 per month, and $8,000 is the magic number/threshold at which nations really begin to grow and beat back corruption."
Moscow is considered the richest Russian city, and the average Muscovite lives in a decrepit Soviet-era apartment building, eats crappy food, drives broken-down cars on roads which are falling apart and has to pay bribes to get decent medical care. The notion that there are "lies, damn lies and statistics" emphatically applies when you try to apply PPP adjustments in countries like Russia and China with such decrepit infrastructures.
So what are they paying for a monthly mortgage equivocally, $2.50?
I wondered about that also, but then I remember going out to eat and ordering everything in site and not being able to spend more than about $7 for two people, 6 rubles for a bus ride across the city, etc. Monthly cost for my wife's apartment - $60, of course in Moscow in certain places it is like New York..
Ehh? A dollar in Russia, Moscow actually will buy a loaf of bread and 2 lbs of potatoes. Buying power of the dollar varies. oops, I see where you are coming from, that should be $9,800 per year not month.
Most people don't pay mortgage, they own their apartments. When the Soviet Union collapsed, who ever was registered in an apartment became the instant owner.
I send $60/month to pay for my wife's apartment including everything, but it's not really a mortgage, it's semi-privatized and can't be sold until our daughter turns 18 and only if she gives permission - very different than here of course..
Using 2002 numbers, posted at this link in January 2005, Russia ranks in the lowerst group of countries in PPP.
I've noticed a few threads over the last few months that are unabashedly pro-Russian, based on statistics that only apply to Moscow and St Petersburg. What gives with the pro-Russia sentiment on this site ?
i wonder how much of this is due to a flat tax/
erps! /=?
Aaaahhhh, now that makes more sense. I see a lot of Russian programmers advertising their services for $5 per hour, so I figure they are not making $120k a year.
Well, I married a Russian and I enjoy travelling to there immensely, but I've never posted anything necessarily 'pro-Russian' When speaking about Russia of course one cannot use Moscow as an example of anything other than Moscow. (15 million people there during the daytime) You can't live on $200 a month in Moscow, but a couple hours away it will get you by.
On the basis of PPP, the annual GDP/person in Russia in 2000 was $9,259.00. (Source:http://aol.countrywatch.com/includes/grank/globrank.asp?TBLS=PPP+Method+Tables&vCOUNTRY=17&TYPE=GRANK)
The GDP/person is not the same as the wages paid. GDP/person simply divides the total GDP by the population. Average wages paid per worker would be higher, simply because not everyone is working.
As for food, its anything but crappy.
The latest IMF writeup tries to deny any benefits from a flat tax. Of course these are the same socialists who were screaming that the Russian government would collapse from a flat tax. They wouldn't want the idea that socialist progressive tax systems are bad to get around, now would they?
I have NO problem recalling those days. Course, I'm an ORF!
Keeping in mind mortgages are almost unheard of in Russia, and practically everything is cash only.
The worst of course is the universities. When I started my first degree in 1990, instate tuition was $400, when I finished my second degree in 2001 it was $1600 and going up $300 per year, so it's somewhere around $2800 now, or in other words 700% inflation in 15 years. Incredible.
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