On September 22, Tuesday, a meeting over the Russian budget planning for 2016 was held. Adding to the budget some of the gains by exporters from ruble devaluation became the main topic at the meeting.
“We made a decision not to increase the tax burden on businesses. Meanwhile, I am asking the Cabinet to look into bringing additional revenues into the budget received by our exporters as a result of the ruble’s devaluation. Naturally, we need to tread very carefully, in order not to weaken the economy of export companies, maintaining their investment opportunities,” Vladimir Putin pointed out.
Experts suppose that a possible rise in the mineral extraction tax will mostly hit Rosneft that already has huge external debts. In his speech, the President of the Russian Federation underlined some key features of the fiscal policy 2016: “It is imperative to ensure the balance and stability of public finance, and to considerably decrease the federal budget’s dependence on oil prices and benchmarks. The planned budget deficit for next year should not exceed 3% of GDP. This is one of the most important benchmarks for the Cabinet during the budget process. In order to reach that level, I ask you to look very carefully at the revenue side of the budget, improving administration and increasing tax collections.”
Financing of institutions that support exports was also discussed. It mostly refers to imports substitution in agricultural and manufacturing sectors. Infrastructure should be developed as well. The country’s government considers plans for developing railways, motorways, airports, and seaports.
The most important target is financing of education, healthcare, and science. Expenditure should meet the society’s requirements completely.
The final decision on the mineral extraction tax is still not made, but it is known that the Finance Ministry plans to receive up to 605 billion rubles from oil companies in 2016.
