Kudrin made a proposal to reduce the costs of defense and national security of Russia
The budget expenditures on defense and national security of Russia need to be reduced by 0,9% of gross domestic product (GDP) in favor of education, health, and road construction. It was with such a proposal made by Alexei Kudrin, the former Minister of Finance.Speaking at a conference held at the Higher School of Economics, he proposed, in particular, to reduce the costs of industry subsidies - by 2,8%, by national security - by 0,4%, and by defense - by 0,5%. At the same time, Kudrin believes that it is necessary to increase spending on health care by 1%, on the construction of roads - by 1,6%, on education - by 1,3%.
The ex-minister added that the introduction of budgetary rules would make the obligations contained in the election articles of V.V. unfulfilled. Putin, as well as decisions relating to national defense. Earlier, the Ministry of Finance proposed a transition to the 2016 year to budget rules, in accordance with which budget expenditures will be limited to the level of revenues from oil and gas, which is determined by starting from the base oil price, more precisely the average price over the last ten years.
According to Kudrin, the main fork in the financial and economic sphere today is whether an increase in budget spending is expected in the future, or rules will be established that apply to the entire market, and then the ruble rate can be predicted. Kudrin said that when they say that it is necessary to build plants at the expense of oil and gas, this will be our response to the modernization process, this is a “less effective mechanism” than creating a “more stable course.”
The ex-minister also said that “approximately such a forking of the strategy” is still insoluble, since no budgetary rules have been defined for how much these resources will be required. Taking into account decisions on national defense and recent decisions related to elections, these expenses will have to increase from 1,5-2% to 5-7% in the coming years. This plan, when determining the budget rules, will not be fulfilled for these obligations. The ex-minister also added that the Russian government does not have much time left. He said that we need to wait for some reforms, since the budget preparation period ends at the very beginning of June.
Experts in the government who worked on the Strategy for the Development of the Socio-Economic Sphere of Russia until 2020 of the Year Now Offer a “Budget Maneuver”. It provides for an increase in government funding for infrastructure development, as well as human capital by 4% of gross domestic product by 2020. At the same time, by the year of 2014, inefficient and redundant expenditures of the budget system are reduced by two or more percent of gross domestic product.
Earlier, the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation stated that it did not agree with the proposal of experts, which implies an actual increase in budget expenditures by 2% of GDP, explaining that the growth of spending obligations may lead to an increase in risks in the Russian financial system.
According to the Strategy-2020, additional expenditures in priority areas to 2014 will be 2% of GDP, including expenditures on education - 0,15% of GDP, on the health care system - 1% of GDP, on communications and ICT - 0,1% of GDP, on road facilities - 0,75% GDP.
It is proposed to increase these costs by saving to 2014 in the amount of 2% of gross domestic product in such areas as the national economy and housing and communal services - 0,8% of GDP, national security, national defense and law enforcement agencies - 0,9% of GDP, as well as national expenses - 0,3% of GDP.
The initiated transformations will lead to an increase in expenditures in priority areas by another 2% of gross domestic product. By 2020, the total increase will be 4% of GDP, including the health care system - 1% of GDP, communications and ICT - 0,1% of GDP, road facilities - 1,6% of GDP, and education - 1,3% of GDP.
Sources of funds for such transformations, according to experts, will be an increase in the payment for mileage or parking, an increase in excise taxes on gasoline. Additional funds may also come from an increase in excise taxes on tobacco products, alcohol and other products that are harmful to human health. Another source is the growth of privatization from 0,5 to 0,7-1% of gross domestic product per year, including the regional level.
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