Siluanov allowed the budget rule to be adjusted this year

Siluanov allowed the budget rule to be adjusted this year

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The Ministry of Finance can, if necessary, adjust the budget rule, declared Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov on air RBC.

“For the time being, we do not want to correct the budget rule in the database. But if we see the need to adjust budget spending, then this year there may be some temporary derogations,” the minister said (quote according to RIA Novosti).

He explained that “if spending needs to be posted, some deviation from the fiscal rule without risks to macro sustainability, in my opinion, is acceptable.”

Former Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov declared at SPIEF that the current parameters of the budget rule require revision. According to his estimates, along with cost optimization, this can become a source of financing for the current needs of the budget. Reshetnikov noted that it is still not entirely clear the amount of additional costs that need to be provided, but discussions about their prioritization cannot be avoided.

Under the old budget rule, the Ministry of Finance used additional income from the high oil price (in 2022, the cut-off bar above which income was considered additional was $44.2/bbl) to buy foreign currency and gold for the National Welfare Fund (NWF). Operations in the interests of the ministry were carried out by the Central Bank. In early March 2022, the Ministry of Finance announced the suspension of the rule for this year after Western countries froze about $ 300 billion of Russia’s gold and foreign exchange reserves, including part of the funds of the National Welfare Fund, as part of sanctions.

In April of this year, a new budget rule was introduced, which is tied to a basic oil and gas income of 8 trillion rubles. in year. At the end of 2022, the Ministry of Finance also increased the maximum share of the yuan in the structure of the NWF from 30% to 60%, and gold from 20% to 40%, while excluding dollars from the structure of the fund.

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