ST. PETERSBURG, January 27 (Itar-Tass) —— The growth of salaries in Russia should not exceed manifold the growth of labor productivity, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told St. Petersburg veterans on Friday.
“This is the election campaign period and it would be the most convenient time to say we will do this and that and to make promises. I speak to you honestly,” he said. “The growth of salaries should not exceed manifold the growth of labor productivity, that is a key problem for any economy.”
“If we dole out oil and gas profits, we may encounter a drop of oil and gas prices and our inability to pay even pensions,” he said.
Only the responsible resolution of economic and social problems will ensure “our progress and achievement of national development goals,” he said.
The world’s average labor productivity growth is 3.7%, while the indicator stands at 3.2% in Russia. “Unfortunately, we are lagging behind by labor productivity,” he said.
However, medical staff salaries were 3,000 rubles on the average in the 2000th. If the salaries had been increased by the inflation rate, they would have been 7,500 rubles instead of current 24,000 rubles, Putin said. “Certainly, we would like to give more and we will do that,” he said, stressing the need for economic modernization.