ALEXEY VEDEV, SERGEY ZHAVORONKOV: THE IMPACT OF BUDGET DEFICIT
On April 20, Alexey Vedev, Head of Financial Studies Department of the Gaidar Institute, and Sergey Zhavoronkov, Senior researcher of the Institutional Development Department, told МК.RU about risks of budget deficit.
Alexey Vedev: “From what I see, there are three risks for budget. The first one is the decline in oil prices more than twofold, the second is dramatic slowdown of the global economy, the third is the losses of the Russian treasury resulted from underpayment of key taxes, since consumer activity is at zero and industrial production and the services sector collapsed. With regard to energy, we are suffering losses not only because of low prices, but also due to reduced export volumes”.
According to Sergey Zhavoronkov, “the deficit will be worth around RUB 2 trillion, not more, under current oil prices. I should like to recall that in 2014–2017, when oil was also cheap, the budget was cut down by half, however, the government did not experience any specific problems expenditures wise. There will be no problems in the coming months either”, the expert of the Gaidar Institute concluded.
According to Sergey Zhavoronkov, “the deficit will be worth around RUB 2 trillion, not more, under current oil prices. I should like to recall that in 2014–2017, when oil was also cheap, the budget was cut down by half, however, the government did not experience any specific problems expenditures wise. There will be no problems in the coming months either”, the expert of the Gaidar Institute concluded.