REUTERS
Russia’s Ministry of Finance is to made additional changes to the federal budget and increase the costs of servicing domestic debt, Reuters has reported with reference to the Deputy Finance Minister Tatyana Nesterenko.
Nesterenko estimated the current budget deficit as being RUB 26 billion. In January-March 2015 Russia’s federal budget saw a deficit of RUB 812.3 billion, or 4.9% of GDP.
In late February, the Finance Ministry prepared amendments to the budget for 2015 that envisaged an increase in the deficit to 3.7% of GDP. Russia’s State Duma, the lower house of parliament, has already passed a bill in three readings, while the upper house, the Federation Council, will consider it at a plenary meeting on April 15.
It is planned to compensate for the budget shortfall, which was caused by recession and declining oil prices, by means of the Reserve Fund, which in a year will shrink by more than a half, or by RUB 3.07 trillion, to RUB 2.6 trillion towards the end of the year.
In accordance with the latest amendments to the budget 2015, the Finance Ministry increased by RUB 111 billion the costs for servicing federal loan bonds, which were placed in December 2014 in an amount of RUB 1 trillion for bank recapitalization.