Peskov says fight against poverty still among Russia’s priorities

MOSCOW, Apr 19 (PRIME) -- The coronavirus pandemic sparked a rise in the number of low income Russians and although pauperization  was largely softened with the government’s support, still fight against poverty is one of the state’s top priorities, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday.

“Of course, the global pandemic had unpleasant results for both the world’s and Russia’s economies in terms of the quantity of the poor… But the number of (people with low income) grew not as seriously as it could as the tailored measures to support the people worked. Of course, everyone thinks about further support steps… and fight against poverty is among the government’s top priorities,” he said.

Peskov also said that the government uses the data provided by the Federal State Statistics Service in its calculations, and the service operates massive statistics data.

The authority said earlier in April that the number of Russians with an income of below the subsistence level fell to 12.1% in 2020 from 12.3% in 2019, according to preliminary assessment.

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