Workers laugh at official statistics
10:52, — Economics
The state’s desire to socially protect pensioners and public sector employees can be welcomed. But the question is whether the growth of pensions and salaries could compensate the losses of the population from consumer prices’ growth? Basic consumer goods and services have become considerably more expensive.
Average labour pensions have grown by 9.3% since November 3 (345.3 thousand rubles), and basic first rate by 7.7% (70 thousand rubles) which allows increasing salary to 800 thousand workers of budget sphere, and it’s a gratifying fact. At a recent session of the National Council on Labour and Social Issues, representatives of the government stated that veterans have received allowances two times, and it makes more than 50 thousand rubles altogether.
According to the official statistics, inflation rate in October was 1.5%, and 7% since the beginning of the year. But these figures are giving rise to doubt. And I am not the one. After the government reported about fulfillment of the General agreement with Trade Unions at the session of the National Council, a chairman of BelAZ trade union Valery Truskouski took the floor. He said that at trade union meetings workers laughed when they heard consumer prices have grown by 7% since the beginning of the year. Their wallets show that basic consumer goods and services have grown much higher.
If I would say that, as a representative of the independent trade union I would be called a spiteful critic. But these words have been said by a representative of the state trade union. After that the talk had a rather emotional character too. And it is understandable. It’s a wrong way to boast of the growth of pensions and salaries by 50 thousand abstracting away from the growth of tariffs and prices. I had to tell about that to representatives of the Council of Ministers.
345.3 thousand a month allow a pensioner make both ends meet. I think that those who go shopping understand me. Growing housing and public utilities prices connected with the beginning of the heating season, repeal of a number of social benefits since December 17, and a looming growth of prices for dentists’ services, should be added… It means elderly people will have hard time.
Repeal of benefits should be mentioned specifically. It is known that deputies of the parliament said that from about 180 billion rubles saved by the state after repeal of benefits, only 55-60 billions would be returned to citizens as targeted social assistance. At the session of the National Council the first Prime Minister Uladzimir Syamashka stated that the whole sum, and not one third, would be redistributed as targeted assistance to those needy. He ordered mass media to publish where the money would be allocated. We are to know soon whether the authorities would keep to their word.
By the way, according to the information of Belarusian government, there are 32,000 Belarusian citizens who need state assistance greatly. It has been said by a deputy Economy minister Andrei Tur at the session of the National Council. I doubt that these figures are realistic. To my mind, it is at least three times higher. But the government refers to some methods of calculation used by them.
The plague of the thing is, in its actions the regime proceeds from method worked out by officials, and not from life. The rate of inflation is calculated by a special method as well. A basket of only 350 items of goods and services are taken into account. Prices for them are strictly regulated by the state. And the whole range of consumer prices is not considered by the Statistics and Analysis Ministry. That is why BelAZ workers laugh at figures produced by bureaucrats.
Alyaksandr Yarashuk, Chairman of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions
(Publication in “Tovarisch” newspaper)
