Notebook

Briefs

Inflation millionaires

According to Russian State Statistics Committee figures for December 1995, almost 25% of Russians are now millionaires, meaning that they earn at least a million rubles per month. At the current exchange rate, however, this is only about $200. Meanwhile the average salary is R710,000 ($150), and the subsistence wage R327,000 ($75). Twenty percent of Russians (28.9 mn) still live below the poverty line, down from 33% last January. Just five years ago, before price liberalization and inflation, salaries of a few hundred rubles were the norm. The Associated Press.