14 Apr 2023 16:32

Mishustin confirms schedule for return to budget rules

MOSCOW. April 14 (Interfax) - The schedule for the return to budget rules, which have been partially restarted since 2023, remains in force: they should be fully operational starting in 2025.

"We expect that as the adaptation period ends, we will be able to reach the parameters of budget rules as early as 2025," Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said, speaking on Friday at an expanded meeting of the collegiums of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economic Development.

A return to full fiscal rules, he said, would strengthen the credibility of economic policy for the long term and the sustainability of the system, as well as "ensure the availability of private credit as a source for development."

The Russian government "will continue to pursue responsible budget policy, which can be confirmed by the decline in inflation in annual terms, which we are seeing at the beginning of this year, Mishustin said.

The operation of budget rules regarding the use of additional oil and gas revenues last March was suspended for 2022. All additional income went to the budget; the Ministry of Finance did not enter the market to buy foreign currency and gold to replenish the National Wealth Fund (NWF). Meanwhile, there was more than 3 trillion rubles, which could be directed from the NWF to finance the budget.

Since 2023, the Ministry of Finance has resumed operations in the foreign exchange market. Now, because of shortfalls to plan in oil and gas revenues, the department is selling foreign currency (Chinese yuan). The nominal volume of oil and gas revenues, above which they must be directed to the National Wealth Fund, is set at 8 trillion rubles per year. After 2025, this will be indexed. Starting in 2025, the second part of the rules determining the budget expenditures ceiling of budget should come into force.