the authorities will redistribute 1.2 trillion rubles. from the closed part of the budget to the open – Kommersant

The government and deputies have finalized the draft budget, which should be considered in the second reading today, November 15. The updated version suggests a reduction in closed expenses in 2024 by almost 3 percentage points – from 30 to 26.8% of all expenses, reports RBC.

Funds from the closed part will be redistributed to the open part, the volume of which will increase by 1.17 trillion rubles, from 25.65 trillion rubles. up to 26.82 trillion rubles. The volume of closed allocations ultimately decreased from 11 trillion to 9.84 trillion rubles. The total volume of federal budget expenditures for 2024 has not changed – 36.66 trillion rubles.

The main volume of redistribution affected the “National Defense” section, the open part of which will increase by 725 billion rubles. Of this amount, 305.26 billion rubles. will be used for the purchase of goods, works and services for government needs in the defense sector (medicine, communications), social guarantees for the military, and improvement of military-political and psychological work in the armed forces. Another 370 billion rubles. will be spent on payments to personnel in the armed forces, salaries for civilian personnel, payment of benefits and compensation.

The second in terms of redistribution volume was the “National Economy” section – 152.49 billion rubles will be redirected from the closed part to it. Thanks to this, funding for the development of industry (by 18 billion rubles), agriculture (by 4.5 billion rubles), programs to promote employment (by 2 billion rubles), will also be issued subsidies for the creation of engineering development centers (1.5 billion rubles).

A large redistribution from the closed part (by 141.15 billion rubles) is also planned in the “Social Policy” section. In particular, the adjustments are related to payments to personnel under the state program “Ensuring the country’s defense capability” – 181.86 billion rubles will be transferred from the closed part for these purposes.

The only section where the open part decreased (by 8.1 billion rubles) was “National Issues”.

The government submitted the draft federal budget for 2024 and the planning period 2025–2026 to the State Duma on September 27. On October 26, it passed its first reading. The Accounts Chamber, in its conclusion on the draft budget for the next three-year period, noted a significant increase in revenues and expenses in 2024 and pointed out the incomparability of the macro forecasts of the Ministry of Economy and the Central Bank.

Details are in the Kommersant article “The Accounts Chamber took a closer look at the budget.”

Laura Keffer