Russia Lowers 2012 Budget Deficit Forecast to 0.3% of GDP

WASHINGTON, April 22 (RIA Novosti)

07:41 22/04/2012

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20120422/172966987.html

Russia’s state budget deficit forecast for 2012 has been lowered to 0.3 percent of GDP from an earlier estimated 1.5 percent of GDP, and a zero-deficit budget cannot be ruled out, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Sunday.

“If the economic situation in the country remains without change until the end of the year, I do not rule out that we will have a zero-deficit budget, like last year,” the minister told journalists in Washington.

He pointed out that Russia was planning to increase its budget spending by 107 billion rubles ($3.63 billion) in 2012. Part of the money will come from higher budget revenues from sources other than energy exports (these revenues are estimated to rise by 60 billion rubles ($2.03 billion) this year), while the other 47 billion rubles ($1.59 billion) "have been found as a result of funds redirected within the budget," he said.

“It is important that we are not going to spend a kopek from oil and gas export revenues,” he said, adding “all revenues from energy exports will either go to the reserve fund or be used to reduce the domestic debt.”