05 March 2004 08:18
FINANCE MINISTRY FORESEES Q1 BUDGET DEFICIT
MOSCOW. March 5 (Interfax) - The Finance Ministry planned a federal budget deficit of 29.94 billion rubles, or 0.9%
of quarterly GDP, in the first quarter of 2004, Finance Ministry data on budget implementation in January-February
shows.
The materials point out that the deficit is planned and linked to an anticipated drop in revenue.
The deficit is forecast for the first quarter of 2004 due to a planned drop in revenue in this quarter. For example,
revenue on Central Bank VAT accounts and profits is only envisaged in the second quarter, the materials say.
Earlier, acting Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said the federal budget deficit was expected
at 2.2 billion rubles in January-February due to high financial aid to the regions and large foreign debt payments.
Finance Ministry figures show the federal budget deficit in January-February was 545 million rubles, or 0.025% of GDP in
that period - because of savings on foreign debt payments, due to exchange rate fluctuations.
Some analysts say the budget deficit will be much less than forecast by the Finance Ministry, which may be partially
due to foreign debt savings. Natalia Orlova, an analyst with Alfa Bank, says March tends to see significant spending on
government orders, plus the federal government may continue to allocate large-scale aid to the regions. If this is the
case, the deficit will not be much lower than the planned figure.
The 2004 budget is expected to have a surplus of 83.4 billion rubles, or 0.5% of GDP.
[Interfax] |
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