Siluanov announced the need to redistribute the “budget pie”

The most correct option for increasing the financing of budget expenditures is the redistribution of expenditures within the framework of the existing “budget pie”. About this at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) said Finance Minister Anton Siluanov.

The minister described several options through which to increase costs, but the most correct, and at the same time difficult, is the redistribution of costs.

“Either we will take our additional expenses from the current “budget pie”. And we will make it so that those expenses that we have today, either transfer them to later, or we will postpone and include what we need. This is the most correct, but the most difficult. This is less feasible, as practice shows, unfortunately, but this is how it should be done, ” noted Siluanov at the Sberbank business breakfast “The Russian economy – a new course. Priorities and alternatives” (quote from RIA Novosti).

In addition, Siluanov explained that it is possible to increase the deficit, but this will lead to inflation and the population and business will pay for such a decision. Another option is to increase taxes, but “for this, too, [они] will pay.”

Over the past three years, budget expenditures have grown 1.5 times, the minister specified. “Where to go? The best answer is to climb inside and find expenses from there, ”Siluanov summed up.

The volume of federal budget revenues in January-May 2023 amounted to 9.818 trillion rubles, the volume of expenditures – 13.229 trillion rubles, which is 27% more than the result of the same period in 2023.

On June 16, during the session “How the Russian economy will develop” at SPIEF Aide to the President Maxim Oreshkin, Siluanov, Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov and Chairman of the Bank of Russia Elvira Nabiullina spoke about the structural transformation of the Russian economy. The sources of funding for incentives were discussed – an increase in budget spending, an increase in the tax burden, or a new stage of privatization.

According to the Minister of Finance, increasing spending is “like adding fuel to a fire.” The Ministry of Finance sees elements of a warming up of the economy, so additional budgetary stimulus will lead to acceleration of inflation and an increase in rates, Siluanov said.