Subsistence Minimum for 2016 Not Sufficient Even for Poor Life

The subsistence minimum in 2016 is projected at 136 manat. The draft law "On subsistence minimum in Azerbaijan for 2016" provides the minimum necessary for a normal life of working citizens AZN 145, for pensioners - 115 manat and children - 118 manat. In accordance with the cost of living, the government will determine the size of pensions, allowances and benefits and address the minimum wage next year.

Are these amounts sufficient for the full life of poor people in the coming year?

In October 2015, as calculated by Turan IA, the able-bodied citizen paid AZN 129.7 for the minimum consumer basket of food, utilities, transportation and the Internet. According to the Government, the Azerbaijanis’ living wage for 2015 is 131 manats (140 for employees, 108 - for children and seniors). And the cost of living in 2015 was set before the 34% devaluation of the manat in February, and the worsening economic crisis. The government did not compensate the citizens for the losses coming from the devaluation.

Let's go back to the difference between the cost of the citizen's own needs (in the framework of the minimum consumer basket) and the size of the subsistence level. Subtracting 129.7 from 140, we get 10.3 manat for the poor, but hard-working people, who could supposedly spend this on drugs, tobacco and alcoholic drinks, refreshments and gifts for the guests, not envisaged by the subsistence minimum. Or he can buy a pair of shoes of the two "allowed" by the government. No money remains in the minimum consumer basket for clothes and garments.

If in the future, the market prices remain at the approximate level of October 2015, the able-bodied citizen will have five mantas more, since next year the government raised the cost of living for these people to 145 manats. On the "extra" five manats the average working citizen can only afford to buy a new knitted hat.

Equally irrelevant to the real needs of the population are the government’s regulations for pensioners and children.

Note that the real cost of living has never coincided with the Cabinet of Ministers regulations. The minimum monthly salary in 2015 (105 manats) is 80.2% of the subsistence level, said Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Protection Idris Isayev.

Calculations made by Turan IA showed that over the years the difference between the actual prices on the market and the mythical subsistence minimum of the poor reached 30-50%. The economist Vugar Bayramov said that the reason for this imbalance is not the undervalued subsistence level in Azerbaijan, but the high consumer prices. According to many experts, the high prices are generated by wholesaler monopolies tacitly backed by senior government officials. -0-