Official says 15% of Russians live below poverty line

MOSCOW, Dec 16 (PRIME) – Russia’s poverty level has grown recently with 15% of the population living below the poverty line, Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets said at a meeting with regional authorities on Friday.

“The statistical evaluation of poverty and the evaluation of self-perception of people diverge deeply in this country. And whereas there is a growth of poverty statistically and it is 15%, which is very bad for us today, we must do our best to come back to the statistical poverty we had before since the self-perception is much worse,” Golodets said.

She said that the poverty line in Russia is too low.

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