Page 81 - RusRPTJan21

quickly overcome the consequences of the 2020 crisis, the NKR believes.
Alfa Bank estimates that the government plans to cut nominal budget spending by 5% in 2021, or by RUB1.1 trillion. At the same time, an increase in non-oil tax collections will give the budget an additional 1 trillion rubles. next year, including about 500bn rubles. from the end of the tax break announced this year.
Although budget expenditures are being cut, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov urged not to consider this as a budget sequestration. “We cut a number of expenses to redirect to social goals. This money did not go anywhere, but went to other purposes, including social,” the minister said in an interview with RBC television in November.
The expected revenues in 2021 will still be less than the budget earned in 2018-2019, and by 3 trillion rubles. more than less than the pre-crisis plan for 2021, follows from the draft federal budget for the next three years. In the next year, expenses are envisaged at the level of 21.5 trillion rubles, and the Ministry of Finance had to temporarily deviate from the budgetary rule in order to pledge this amount.
To increase funding for priority areas (national economy, social policy, health care), the government had to go for a 10% optimization of all unprotected budget items within three years, skip the indexation of officials' salaries in 2021 and a 5% reduction in the state arms program. In 2022, when the Ministry of Finance plans to return to the pre-crisis budgetary rule, expenses should increase by only 400bn rubles. relative to 2021.
To cover the federal budget deficit, the Ministry of Finance intends to increase public debt, which will increase to 21.4% of GDP by 2023 after 12.3% in the pre-crisis 2019. The NKR believes that a moderate debt burden leaves "much more room for increasing government spending." The volume of the National Wealth Fund from March to November 2020 increased from $123bn to $167bn. The Ministry of Finance refused to use the fund to finance anti-crisis spending.
The just-unveiled parameters of the 2021-23 federal budget were generally in line with what was previously disclosed in the media.
Revenues are expected to climb to RUB18.8 trillion in 2021, up from RUB17.9 trillion in 2020, and then rise to RUB20.6 trillion in 2022 and RUBR22.3 trillion in 2023.
Expenditures will shrink to R21.5 trillion in 2021, down from R22.6 trillion in
81 ​RUSSIA Country Report​ January 2021 ​ ​www.intellinews.com