economy
State Duma Allows Government to Borrow Above Limit Without Budget Law Amendments
The Russian parliament has empowered the government to increase spending and borrow on the domestic market without amending the budget law. Amendments to the Budget Code passed all three readings, with the government submitting them to the Duma earlier in the week.
TL;DR
- The Russian parliament has authorized the government to increase spending and borrow on the domestic market without amending the budget law.
- Amendments to the Budget Code allow the government to raise expenses using domestic financing sources and existing budget balances.
- The changes remove the limit on internal state debt and allow for exceeding the planned borrowing program.
- The federal budget deficit reached 6.0 trillion rubles (2.6% of GDP) by the end of May, double the previous year's deficit and exceeding the annual plan.
- Spending on servicing state debt is nearing 9% of total federal expenditures, surpassing combined spending on education and healthcare.
- The Ministry of Finance has postponed the goal of achieving a zero primary deficit until 2029.