Matvienko said that the budget for 2024 will be balanced

There is every reason to believe that the Russian budget for 2024 will be balanced, there are all the prerequisites for this, said Matvienko, Chairman of the Council of Federations, Vedomosti correspondent reports.

“There is every reason to believe that a balanced budget will be drawn up,” said the speaker of the Federation Council.

She stressed that she can guarantee the fulfillment of all social obligations in the upcoming budget cycle. According to her, in no case should you increase the tax burden on business, it will be counterproductive. Matvienko also gave an assessment of Russia’s public debt, stressing that it is minimal.

The government approved the proposal of the Ministry of Finance to reduce budget expenditures in 2024 by 10% on the so-called unprotected items. By information a source close to the Cabinet and a federal official, the decision was made by the government commission on budget projections. It is assumed that the total amount of the sequestration will be relatively small relative to the total amount of spending – about 450 billion rubles.

As RIA Novosti reported with reference to Central Bank data on July 21, Russia’s external debt in relation to GDP in the first quarter fell to its lowest level since 1993 – to 15%. The volume of debt to non-residents in relation to GDP at the end of 2022 amounted to 16.6%, which is the lowest since 1993. However, in the first quarter of 2023, the debt-to-GDP ratio continued to decline and reached 15.45%.

In March, the Central Bank led data, that as of January 1 this year, Russia’s external debt amounted to $380.5 billion. According to the results of last year, the indicator decreased by 21.1% ($101.8 billion). As of January 1, the state debt of the Russian Federation decreased to 16.7% of GDP from 26.2% a year earlier.