Russian budget estimated to sink to 20-year low by 2019
The revenues of the Federal Budget of the Russian Federation will drop to a 20-year low in 2019. On Monday, September 5, 2016 the Russian daily Vedomosti made the announcement, quoting the forecast of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, which projected that revenues will be reduced to 13.3% of the Gross Domestic Product for three years. The last time the actual figure was below forecast was in 1999.
The Ministry predicted these results on the basis of oil priced at 40 dollars per barrel. The Ministry believes that the budget is not enough to finance all government obligations if oil and gas prices do not go up, according to the publication.
The share of revenues redistributed through the Federal Budget in the last 10 years averaged 20% of the GDP. According to the forecast, by 2019 it will be reduced by almost a third.