Putin spotlights ‘important’ downtick in Russia’s poverty level

Vladimir Putin

MOSCOW, November 30. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin considers the decrease in the level of poverty in the country important in the current conditions.

"The level of poverty decreased to 10.5% by the end of the third quarter," he said at a meeting with government members on Wednesday.

According to Putin, "it is a minor [decrease], of course," as "in the third quarter of last year it (the poverty level - TASS) totaled 11%." "So the decrease is indeed minor, but it is important that there is certain positive dynamics in the current challenging economic situation," he noted.

Nominal growth in incomes amounted to 12.8% in the first nine months of this year, the Russian president said, adding that "this is nominal [growth], whereas real growth should be reached."