The Russian government approved the draft law "On the federal budget for 2021 and for the planning period of 2022 and 2023."

Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova announced this on Wednesday, September 16.

As the Prime Minister of the country Mikhail Mishustin noted at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers, the work on the document was carried out in conditions of serious financial challenges.

“Epidemiological risks have been added to the sanctions against our country and low oil prices.

As a result, we managed to walk along the edge, on a very thin line, when it was necessary to balance, solving at the same time the most important tasks of unconditional fulfillment of all social obligations of the state and bringing the economy to the rate of growth and development of the country, ”Mishustin said.

He stressed that the complex of measures to combat the coronavirus and the economic crisis has justified itself, and now the government must move on to solving new tasks.

First of all, we are talking about improving the "quality of life of people and the country's competitiveness."

To this end, the Cabinet of Ministers announced the draft tax laws, which will ensure the necessary budget revenues.

“Some big companies say that we only take money from oil companies.

This is not true.

We believe that in a difficult situation, everyone should take part in solving the problems facing the country and people.

This is our deliberate policy, ”Mishustin said.

Thus, the government increases taxation of a number of lucrative industries.

In particular, the authorities propose to increase the mineral extraction tax (MET), revise the parameters of a number of benefits in the oil and gas sector, and also index the rates of excise taxes on tobacco products above inflation.

In addition, the revision of agreements on avoidance of double taxation with a number of countries should also bring additional revenues to the budget.

As Mishustin noted, the relevant documents have already been signed with Cyprus and Malta.

According to the Prime Minister, one of the key ones from the point of view of replenishing the budget is the bill on increasing the personal income tax rate (PIT) from 13 to 15% for citizens who earn more than 5 million rubles a year.

The corresponding initiative was announced at the end of June by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“This will give the budget about 60 billion rubles.

I propose, as experts say, to “dye” these funds, protect them from any other use and target them for the treatment of children with serious, rare diseases, for the purchase of expensive drugs, equipment and rehabilitation equipment, for high-tech operations, ”Putin said.

To help the budget

The announced initiatives of the government will reduce the budget deficit that has increased during the pandemic.

This point of view in an interview with RT was voiced by Vladimir Tikhomirov, chief economist at BCS Global Markets.

“The measures taken by the authorities will help finance part of the budget deficit, which arose both due to the fall in the economy and due to the sharp drop in oil prices,” Tikhomirov explained.

During a government meeting, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that in 2020 the budget deficit will amount to 4.4% of GDP.

At the same time, already in 2021 the indicator should decrease to 2.4% of GDP, and in 2022 - to 1% of GDP.

“The budgetary policy in 2020-2021 is primarily focused on helping to combat the pandemic and its consequences.

In order to support citizens and businesses, packages of measures are being implemented, in value terms amounting to about 5% of GDP, "Siluanov emphasized.

According to him, against the background of increased budget spending, the government also plans to increase borrowing in 2021 by 875 billion rubles to replenish the treasury.

As a result, Russia's national debt may approach 20% of GDP, but this level remains harmless, the minister is sure.

“The main priority of the budgetary policy is the fulfillment of the national development goals set by the President of the Russian Federation in a decree.

Proceeding from these messages, we formed our proposals on tax policy and, accordingly, on the formation of the expenditure side of the budget, ”added Anton Siluanov.

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Recall that in July Vladimir Putin signed a decree "On the national development goals of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2030".

Within the framework of the document, the President instructed to increase life expectancy in Russia to 78 years within ten years, reduce the poverty level by half, achieve GDP growth rates above the world average and ensure a steady increase in household income.

“National projects were initially viewed as the main driver of economic growth.

That is why the budget for next year implies a noticeable increase in the costs associated with them.

Apparently, in the current conditions, the government intends to accelerate the implementation of national projects, "said Alexander Abramov, head of the laboratory at the Institute of Applied Economic Research of the RANEPA, in an interview with RT.

New rating

During a government meeting, the head of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade Maxim Reshetnikov announced the parameters of the new macro forecast.

In particular, the ministry revised its estimate of Russia's GDP decline in 2020 from 4.8% to 3.9%.

At the same time, already in 2021, the economy may grow by 3.3%.

“The crisis has not acquired a systemic character.

The economic downturn turned out to be concentrated in the small and medium business sector in a certain limited number of affected industries.

There were no chains of non-payments.

The crisis did not spread to the backbone industries and companies, ”Reshetnikov stressed.

According to the minister, Russia went through a difficult period "better than many other countries."

This state of affairs is partly due to the peculiarities of the structure of the national economy.

Georgy Ostapkovich, director of the Center for Market Research at the Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge, NRU HSE, spoke about this in a conversation with RT.

“The situation in the industry is developing much better than it was estimated in the spring.

And industry is an economy-forming industry, it accounts for 30% of the GDP structure.

Industrial production and agriculture weathered the coronavirus attack well.

At the same time, the agrarian sector showed growth in general, ”Ostapkovich said.

However, first of all, the fall in the economy made it possible to restrain government measures to support the population and business, experts are sure.

In particular, we are talking about the provision of credit vacations, direct payments to families with children, as well as soft loans and tax breaks for companies and entrepreneurs.

“Since the beginning of the year, business credit programs have been supported (directly supported from the federal budget) in the amount of 1.4 trillion rubles, another 550 billion rubles have been supported within the framework of various mortgage programs.

All this allowed us to improve the assessment of the current year and the mid-term forecast, ”said Maxim Reshetnikov.

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As the minister stressed, the spring weakening of the ruble did not lead to a sharp rise in consumer prices.

By the end of 2020, the inflation rate should be about 3.8%, after which the indicator will stabilize near the target of the Central Bank of 4%.

In addition, according to the Ministry of Economic Development, in 2020 the real disposable income of the population may decrease by 3%, but in 2021 it will increase by 3%, and then will grow by 2.5% per year.

“The growth of household income is directly related to the dynamics of economic development.

If the economy grows, production grows, the profits of enterprises grow, entrepreneurs are interested in hiring people and in stimulating employees by increasing salaries.

Also, with an increase in the profit of enterprises, the tax base also increases.

The budget receives more taxes, and the state can increase pensions, scholarships, social benefits and salaries for public sector employees.

This is the main factor due to which incomes can grow, "explained Georgy Ostapkovich.