The Russian government has denied reports that officials will enjoy a 38 percent pay rise in 2019 despite the country’s ongoing economic crisis.
The RT news website reported on Tuesday morning that civil servants could see their guaranteed salaries rise from the current average of 99,000 rubles per month ($1,553) to 140,000 rubles ($2,196).
Presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov later told journalists that there was no plan to "unfreeze" public pay packets, which have not been indexed against inflation since 2014. "I do not have any information about planned increases," Peskov said. "All increases have been put on hold, and I don't know of any alterations that would cause that to change," he said.
According to official data, salaries for civil servants skyrocketed by 600 percent between 2002 and 2013. Some 550,000 civil servants worked in Russian government during 2015, a number which the Kremlin pledged to cut by 10 percent in 2016.Top earners include staff in the presidential administration, who take home 209,000 rubles ($3,280) every month on average.
