The authorities thought about expanding the possibilities of using maternity capital

Experts called the weaknesses of the idea

The State Duma proposed to allow Russians to direct unused funds of maternity capital, and there are more than 20% of them, into long-term five-year deposits. Citizens will receive interest income, banks will receive additional liquidity, and the state will not have to spend the federal budget on the annual indexation of the mother’s capital held in the Social Fund accounts. An appeal to the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Tatyana Golikova with a description of this idea was sent by Yana Lantratova, First Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Education of the State Duma. What difficulties the authorities may face in implementing it – in the material “MK”.

Proposals about where else you can send matkapital funds are regularly heard from high tribunes. Why this happens is, in principle, understandable. The fact is that if the mother’s capital simply lies on the accounts of Russians in the Social Fund of the Russian Federation, then by law these funds must be indexed to the level of inflation, and the money for this is always taken from the federal budget. Which we now have, as you know, is in short supply. So what is more in the initiatives of parliamentarians – concern for the freedom of choice of citizens or the desire to reduce state treasury expenses – is difficult to understand. “According to the available statistics, 20.7%, or 0.55 trillion rubles, of recipients of maternity capital do not find a suitable opportunity to dispose of funds in a targeted manner, which generates additional costs for their indexation,” Lantratova said in a statement. The deputy notes that last year about 96.2 billion rubles were spent on indexing this amount. In this regard, she proposes to expand the use of maternity capital, including the ability to place unused funds by recipients on long-term deposits for a period of five years. At the same time, dividends from these deposits will be sent to the families themselves, which will also be beneficial for citizens.

Recall that since February 1, maternity capital has been indexed in Russia by almost 12% – to the level of actual inflation. Today, payments for the first child amount to 586.9 thousand rubles, and for the second – 775.6 thousand rubles. “If we take the average bank deposit rate for 5 years at 7.5% per annum, then from a deposit of 587 thousand rubles per year it will be possible to earn 44 thousand rubles, and for 5 years, respectively, 220 thousand rubles, and from a deposit of It will be possible to earn 775 thousand rubles per year for 58 thousand rubles, and for 5 years – 290.6 thousand rubles,” calculated Fredom Finance Global analyst Vladimir Chernov. So, Lantarova’s proposal looks, at first glance, sound and beneficial for all participants at once: the state will not need to spend the state budget on indexing mother capital funds, banks will receive additional liquidity and increase their stability, and citizens will receive interest income on their accounts. At the same time, as Svetlana Zubkova, Associate Professor of the Department of Banking and Monetary Regulation of the Financial University, notes, if we focus on the birth rate forecast in 2023, then the maximum amount of funds attracted in the form of deposits can be more than 720 billion rubles.

However, experts point to possible difficulties with the implementation of the initiative. “According to the law, the bank is obliged to issue a deposit at the first request of the depositor, regardless of the urgency of the deposit, so the funds of the mother’s capital can be immediately cashed out, which the legislator tried to avoid,” recalls Maxim Osadchiy, head of the analytical department of the BKF bank. “Moreover, fraudulent schemes for cashing out mother’s capital are known, for example, through the purchase of dilapidated housing.” This loophole can be eliminated by the introduction of irrevocable deposits, but for this it will be necessary to change banking legislation, and this is not a quick process. “It will be more difficult to control funds on accounts in private banks, so the question is whether the state will take such a step,” continues Polina Gusyatnikova, senior managing partner at PG Partners law firm. It will be necessary to ensure the possibility of control over the placement of these funds in bank deposits, as well as their subsequent withdrawal and other disposal. According to the chairman of the All-Russian Trade Union of Mediators Vladimir Kuznetsov, if this proposal is accepted, then it will be necessary to organize partnership programs with specific banks to make it easier to track where funds are credited, and also to allow, for example, an exclusively non-cash method of disposing of them for their intended purpose (for the purchase housing, school fees, etc.). The question of interest on such a contribution deserves special attention: will they relate to the maternity capital itself (which means that the ability to dispose of them will be limited) or will the family receive the right to freely dispose of them.