Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday offered a raft of financial sweeteners to Russians after opinion polls showed that trust in him has fallen to a 13-year low and almost half the population believes the country is on the wrong track.
In his annual speech to the Russian political elite, Putin set out how he plans to raise living standards, and boost healthcare and education, promising he would find extra money to back the pledges.
Among his promises: More money for pensioners, mortgage and tax relief for families, and financial incentives for women to have more children.
He also laid out deadlines to close huge and sometimes apparently spontaneous landfill sites that have become a political sore for the Kremlin and anger many Russians who have seen them spring up near their homes, polluting the air.
“You can’t deceive people. They keenly feel hypocrisy, disrespect and any injustice. Bureaucratic red tape is of little interest to them,” Putin told lawmakers and regional leaders. “For people what’s important is what has actually been done and how it improves their lives and their families’ lives.”
Putin also spoke of a new arms race with the US, something that could potentially reduce funds available for social spending if it continues to escalate.
However, for now, Putin said that Russia is well able to afford to spend heavily on lifting people’s quality of life.
He said that the nation’s foreign-currency reserves covered the entirety of its external debt obligations for the first time and forecast that the economy would be growing by more than 3 percent by 2021.
Oil revenues mean that Russia is not short of money. Its budget surplus this year is projected to be 1.932 trillion roubles (US$29.4 billion), or 1.8 percent of GDP. Russia’s foreign-exchange reserves stand at US$478 billion, the fifth-largest in the world.
However, if Putin had to scale back social spending plans to fund a wider arms race, that could further dent his ratings.
Putin is not under immediate pressure and enjoys an approval rating of about 60 percent, but his rating used to be nearly 90 percent and an opinion poll last month showed that public trust in him had fallen to its lowest level in 13 years.
Another survey this month showed that the number of Russians viewing the country as moving in the wrong direction was at its highest since 2006.
Pollsters attribute the souring mood to people fed up with six consecutive years of falling real incomes and unpopular government moves to raise the retirement age and hike value-added tax.
An endangered baby pygmy hippopotamus that shot to social media stardom in Thailand has become a lucrative source of income for her home zoo, quadrupling its ticket sales, the institution said Thursday. Moo Deng, whose name in Thai means “bouncy pork,” has drawn tens of thousands of visitors to Khao Kheow Open Zoo this month. The two-month-old pygmy hippo went viral on TikTok and Instagram for her cheeky antics, inspiring merchandise, memes and even craft tutorials on how to make crocheted or cake-based Moo Dengs at home. A zoo spokesperson said that ticket sales from the start of September to Wednesday reached almost
‘BARBAROUS ACTS’: The captain of the fishing vessel said that people in checkered clothes beat them with iron bars and that he fell unconscious for about an hour Ten Vietnamese fishers were violently robbed in the South China Sea, state media reported yesterday, with an official saying the attackers came from Chinese-flagged vessels. The men were reportedly beaten with iron bars and robbed of thousands of dollars of fish and equipment on Sunday off the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島), which Taiwan claims, as do Vietnam, China, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines. Vietnamese media did not identify the nationalities of the attackers, but Phung Ba Vuong, an official in central Quang Ngai province, told reporters: “They were Chinese, [the boats had] Chinese flags.” Four of the 10-man Vietnamese crew were rushed
CHINESE ICBM: The missile landed near the EEZ of French Polynesia, much to the surprise and concern of the president, who sent a letter of protest to Beijing Fijian President Ratu Wiliame Katonivere called for “respect for our region” and a stop to missile tests in the Pacific Ocean, after China launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). In a speech to the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday, Katonivere recalled the Pacific Ocean’s history as a nuclear weapons testing ground, and noted Wednesday’s rare launch by China of an ICBM. “There was a unilateral test firing of a ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean. We urge respect for our region and call for cessation of such action,” he said. The ICBM, carrying a dummy warhead, was launched by the
As violence between Israel and Hezbollah escalates, Iran is walking a tightrope by supporting Hezbollah without being dragged into a full-blown conflict and playing into its enemy’s hands. With a focus on easing its isolation and reviving its battered economy, Iran is aware that war could complicate efforts to secure relief from crippling sanctions. Cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah, sparked by Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7 last year, has intensified, especially after last week’s sabotage on Hezbollah’s communications that killed 39 people. Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon followed, killing hundreds. Hezbollah retaliated with rocket barrages. Despite the surge in
RSS