Deficit of regional budgets in 2015 may be about 600 bln rubles - Siluanov
MOSCOW. March 5 (Interfax) - The deficit of regional budgets for 2015 may amount to about 600 billion rubles, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said during a government meeting on Thursday.
"In the current conditions, regional budgets are experiencing additional difficulties, for the two months the fall in regional budget revenues was 7%, and tax and non-tax revenues - 10% and spending increased by 2%. The deficit was a little more than 200 billion rubles, and for the year we are expecting 600 billion rubles," he said.
"We have not cut subsidies for budget equalization, it is these subsidies, which go toward fulfilling the spending obligations of the Russian regions, and also we have not cut the amount of subsidies allocated for balancing regional budgets. That money, which should have gone toward an increase of state employees' salaries, but we think that now the regions themselves should determine how much it is necessary to raise salaries this year, and to send these funds for the general balancing of the budget of Russian regions," Siluanov said.