Matvienko said that the budget for 2024 will be balanced

There is every reason to believe that the Russian budget for 2024 will be balanced, there are all the prerequisites for this, said Matvienko, Chairman of the Council of Federations, Vedomosti correspondent reports.

“Honestly, I do not see any serious threats, let alone dramatic events, there is every reason to assert that a balanced budget aimed at development, a social budget, will be prepared. There are all the prerequisites for this,” Matviyenko said, stressing that this is an extraordinary task “in those serious conditions of confrontation between the West.”

She noted that the government has already proposed several tools that will balance the budget.

“In my opinion, it is necessary to carefully analyze and update the expenditure part of the budget, abandoning ineffective measures and funding that can wait. And focus on priorities, they are known, ”the speaker of the Federation Council clarified.

Commenting on statements that the expenditure side of the budget may have to be reduced by 10%, Matvienko said that this is absolutely not a dramatic situation.

“The only thing, in my opinion, is that it is necessary not to linearly pass everyone the same 10%, but to approach it very carefully pointwise: somewhere it can be reduced by 15%, somewhere by 5%, and somewhere these articles will be absolutely protected,” the senator concluded.

Matvienko stressed that she can guarantee the fulfillment of all social obligations in the upcoming budget cycle. According to her, in no case should you increase the tax burden on business, it will be counterproductive. Matvienko also gave an assessment of Russia’s public debt, stressing that it is minimal.

The government approved the proposal of the Ministry of Finance to reduce budget expenditures in 2024 by 10% on the so-called unprotected items. By information a source close to the Cabinet and a federal official, the decision was made by the government commission on budget projections. It is assumed that the total amount of the sequestration will be relatively small relative to the total amount of spending – about 450 billion rubles.

July 21 Russia’s external debt in relation to GDP in the first quarter decreased to the lowest level since 1993 – up to 15%. The volume of debt to non-residents in relation to GDP at the end of 2022 amounted to 16.6%, which is the lowest since 1993. However, in the first quarter of 2023, the debt-to-GDP ratio continued to decline and reached 15.45%, RIA Novosti wrote.

In March, the Central Bank led data, that as of January 1 this year, Russia’s external debt amounted to $380.5 billion. According to the results of last year, the indicator decreased by 21.1% ($101.8 billion). As of January 1, the state debt of the Russian Federation decreased to 16.7% of GDP from 26.2% a year earlier.