Russia’s poverty rate reaches 9-yr high

MOSCOW: Russia’s recession-hit economy has propelled the country’s poverty rate to a nine-year high, state statistics published on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) showed, as the country struggles to cope with a crippling economic crisis.

An average of 19.2 million Russians—or 13.4 percent of the population—were living last year on less than 9,452 rubles ($139) a month, the minimum subsistence level determined by the Russian government in the fourth quarter.