Russian government may propose adjustments to 2016 budget soon

MOSCOW, Jan 12 (PRIME) -- The Russian government may soon submit draft adjustments to the 2016 budget to the parliament seeking to reduce state spending, Sergei Ryabukhin, head of the budget committee at the Federation Council, the parliament’s upper house, told PRIME on Tuesday.

“I believe that the government will submit proposals not in spring, as it usually happens…, but in the near future,” he said. “It (the adjustments) must be done on the back of an oil price fall to about $30 per barrel against a $50 figure envisaged in the 2016 budget.”

The Finance Ministry and other authorities, which manage the budget, have already started developing proposals for amendments, Ryabukhin also said.

“We probably must fall back on cost-cutting in order not to spend money of the Reserve Fund in full, to increase sustainability of the country’s budget,” he said.

Business daily Vedomosti reported earlier on Tuesday that Russian authorities are developing proposals by Friday to cut 2016 budget spending by at least 10% on the back of low oil prices.

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