| Moscow, August 26, 2002. “The draft budget for 2003
demonstrates the apathetic approach of the Government to the resolution
of the country’s financial and economic problems,”
noted Deputy Head of the YABLOKO faction in the State Duma Sergei
Ivanenko in an interview with the Rosbalt correspondent on Monday.
“The budget for 2003 is the younger brother of the present
budget, an exact copy: the developers of this document simply
borrowed the figures from 2002 and multiplied them by a certain
coefficient,” stressed Ivanenko. Such an approach, says
Ivanenko, could be used only at a favourable time in the country.
However, he added that the abrupt fall in financial reserves,
failure of regional budgets and drop in tax collection indicated
that the situation in the financial and economic sphere in Russia
was far from favourable.
“Government complacency may cost Russia dearly,”
thinks Ivanenko. In particular, a change in the oil price in the
world in 2003 would inevitably threaten the implementation of
the governmental variant of the budget, stressed Ivanenko. At
the same time, he is convinced that given the present division
of forces in the Duma the draft budget would be adopted in the
first and other readings without considerable changes to its main
parameters. “The Government has already made an agreement
with the centrists and so there will be no problems with approval
of the budget,” said Ivanenko.
“YABLOKO is going to prepare and submit to the Duma its
own draft budget alternative to the government’s variant.
This document will be more realistic and economically justified,”
noted Ivanenko.
See also:
Draft
Budget for 2003
Alexei
Kudrin: Discussions of the draft budget for 2003 in the State
Duma will be tough. RIA Novosti, August 27, 2002
Second
version of the draft budget under preparation. Vremya MN,
August 27, 2002
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