YELTSIN PLEDGES TO CLEAR WAGE ARREARS.

President Yeltsin vowed again yesterday that the Russian government will shortly start supplying funds to the Russian regions to enable them to settle claims for back pay. (ORT, BBC World Service, March 14) Yeltsin was speaking, however, about wage arrears in the public sector, which amount to only about one-sixth of all unpaid wages in Russia. Those in the private sector who understood him to mean that all wage arrears are to be paid will be in for a disappointment, observers commented.

Russian Inflation Hits Low.