Russians spend 6.1% of incomes on buying foreign currency

Russian citizens spent about 61.9 percent of their incomes on purchasinggoods in the period from January to July 2002, compared to 63.9 percent onthe period from January to July 2001, the Russian State StatisticsCommittee reported. Some 16.4 percent of incomes were spent on services inthe period from January to July 2002, compared to 15.8 percent in thecorresponding period of 2001. Russians spent 6.1 percent of their incomeson buying foreign currency, compared to 5.9 percent in the correspondingperiod of last year. The amount of money in hand grew by 1.2 percent in thefirst seven months of 2002, compared to a 1.6 percent advance in the periodfrom January to July 2001. About 9.9 percent of Russians' incomes werespent on obligatory payments, compared to 9.1 percent last year..