Finance Ministry not planning large-scale changes to parameters of 2023 budget, adjustments made through commission
MOSCOW. April 14 (Interfax) - The Russian Finance Ministry does not plan to initiate large-scale changes in the parameters of the federal budget for 2023, which provides for a deficit of 2% of GDP, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told reporters.
According to the current procedure this year, the adjustments necessary to prioritize budget expenditures are approved at the profile commission level, the minister said.
"This year, the parliament has given the government the right to make changes to the budget parameters. The instrument has been defined - a commission that works and consists of representatives from the State Duma, the Federation Council and the government. We make all the necessary changes to the budget's parameters by agreeing on them within this commission. In this area, we do not plan to make any global changes to the budget law, but individual adjustments and changes related to the prioritization of expenditures this year are ongoing and will continue to occur," Siluanov said on the sidelines of the extended collegium of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economic Development.
"This is a matter of tuning during budget execution. We will make changes to the budget schedule by agreeing with representatives of the upper and lower houses of parliament without adopting amendments to the law. For now, we are adhering to those budget deficit plans that are approved by the budget law, that is, 2% of GDP. In the course of the budget process - the budget year has just begun, just the first quarter has passed - I do not exclude that some adjustments will be made," the minister added.
According to the budget law, federal budget revenues in 2023 are planned at 26.13 trillion rubles, and expenses at 29.56 trillion rubles, with a deficit of 2.93 trillion rubles. In the first quarter, according to preliminary data from the Ministry of Finance, the budget was executed with a deficit of 2.4 trillion rubles, while in March a small surplus was recorded - about 180 billion rubles. At the beginning of this month, according to the latest data from the Electronic Budget website, the deficit in "online mode," which may not give a completely objective picture of performance due to the peculiarities of the schedule for spending and receiving income, increased again to 3.36 trillion rubles.