Well, there are several levels of answer to your question. First of all, there are no currency exchange there and people are not allowed to have a foreign currency (USD). So this "equivalence" is established with black market exchange rate which represents not the parity of prices of commodities but the (high) value of USD for the back market participants. It is normal since the black market participants are involved into contraband and they need foreign currency badly. So for $ 40 in black market exchange rate you can get a lot of food there. The second level of the problem is that the food/goods market there is government-controlled and for some goods there is no market at all - they are centrally distributed by the executives. So the amount of savings is not directly connected with the consumption level. And the next point is that the person who have a job and a regular paycheck doesn't need to have a lot of savings in order not to starve. As I can understand the social contract of the socialists' states is the lack of unemployment, so anyone is employed even if his work is not needed.

They're supposed to depend on the government. Having $40 in your pocket would force you into the bread lines pretty quick, eh? And if you're in the bread lines it becomes a lot harder to actively protest the government....