As a result of the measures taken by the government from December of 1998 to October of 1999, salary arrears to budget employees decreased from RUR 15.4 billion (about $592 million) to RUR 7.5 billion ($288.5 million), First Deputy PM Valentina Matvienko told State Duma deputies today. The government transferred RUR 4.6 billion (about $177 million) to solve social problems, which is RUR 2 billion (about $77 million) more than in September. According to the Finance Ministry, the salary debt to budget employees is estimated to drop by RUR 1.6 billion (about $61.5 million) this month, by RUR 0.3 billion (about $11.5 million) in November and by RUR 0.5 billion (about $19.2 million) in December. The salary arrears will amount to RUR 5 billion (about $ 192.3million) as of January 1, 2000.