KIEV, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said here on Wednesday that his government's work this year will focus on fighting poverty.
"Our key tasks are the development of the economy, creation of new jobs, payment of decent salaries, collection of fair taxes and distribution of those taxes for raising social standards," Groysman said during the first meeting of his cabinet this year.
Among the key government's steps to reduce poverty, Groysman listed the further increase of wages for vulnerable groups and the reformation of the state employment service.
The projected reform of the employment system envisages increased investment for new jobs creation at the expense of reduced funding for administrative apparatus of the state labour agency, he said.
Recently, the government has made a series of steps to reduce the poverty and social inequality in Ukraine. Starting from Jan. 1, the minimum wage in the country was doubled to 118 U.S. dollars, while the salaries of teachers and medical workers were up 50 percent and 30 percent respectively.
According to the Ukrainian Social Policy Ministry, some 28 percent of Ukrainian families are currently living below the poverty threshold.
The government targeted to lower the number of poor families to 15 percent by 2020.
