Finance Ministry supports idea of independent budget review
ST. PETERSBURG. June 8 (Interfax) - The Russian Finance Ministry supports the idea of conducting an independent assessment of the budget, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said at an international banking conference on Friday.
"Of course we support an independent assessment of the budget, we don't think that this is wrong. I hope that if there will be such experts and they conduct an assessment, the conclusion will be simple: it is necessary to improve the structure of the budget in terms of increasing infrastructure expenditures, which we need, and reducing current expenditures, which take up a large portion of the budget, particularly the budget in the regions," Siluanov said in response to a question from Central Bank chief Elvira Nabiullina about an independent assessment of the budget.
He said independent experts could also conclude that so-called technical expenditures, which exist but do not promote economic growth, should also be reduced.