Putin says he’s raising minimum wage
RUSSIA - Russian President Vladimir Putin is hiking the country’s minimum wage and pensions by 10 per cent to help counter soaring inflation amid hard-hitting sanctions over the Ukraine war, Reuters reported.
Calling 2022 a difficult year for Russia, Putin on Wednesday rejected the notion that all of the country’s economic issues were linked to the war, which it calls a special military operation, as per Reuters.
“Because in countries that aren’t conducting any operations - say, overseas, in North America, in Europe - inflation is comparable and, if you look at the structure of their economies, even more than ours,” said Putin, according to the news agency.
Russia’s inflation was 17.8 per cent on-year in April, per Reuters. The US inflation rate hit 8.3 per cent in
Ramos using two AR-15-style rifles. Ramos had bought the guns and 375 rounds of 5.56mm ammunition legally a week before, just days after his 18th birthday.
Journalist
British journalist Mark Stone cornered Cruz at the vigil and asked him whether it was time for gun reform laws in America.
When asked why by the British Sky News journalist why American exceptionalism is ‘so awful’, Cruz said: ‘You know, I’m sorry you think American exceptionalism is awful. You’ve got your political agenda. God love you.’
April - near a four-decade high, but still significantly lower than Russia’s current inflation rate.
The minimum wage and pension hikes are slated to start on June 1. The current minimum wage is 13 890 rubles (US$233) a month, and the average retirement pension is 18 521 rubles (US$311) a month, according to Reuters.
Russia has been hit with sweeping sanctions since starting the war in Ukraine in February. Trade experts from the Institute of International Finance said the economy is ‘imploding.’
After repeatedly being asked ‘You can’t answer that’ by the British journalist, Cruz turned and said: ‘Why is it that people come from all over the world to America? Because it’s the freest, most prosperous, safest country on Earth. Stop being a propagandist.’
‘You know, it’s easy to go to politics,’ Cruz told Sky News. ‘Inevitably, when some violent psychopath murders people, if you want to stop violent crime, the proposals the Democrats have — none of them would have stopped this.’
He added: ‘There are 19 sets of parents who are never going to get to kiss their child tonight.’
They are expecting Russia’s GDP to collapse by 30 per cent by the end of 2022.
But Putin said the Russian economy had ‘better dynamics than forecast by some experts,’ the Financial Times reported. The unemployment rate has remained stable at 4 per cent, he said, per the media outlet. Official Russian government data shows the unemployment rate stayed around 4 per cent in the first three months of 2022.
Data for more recent months is not yet available.