Tiraspol, 10 December. /Novosti Pridnestrovya./ The government has approved a draft budget for 2016. As the acting finance minister, Yelena Girzhul, noted during a cabinet meeting, a decline of major macroeconomic indicators and a decrease in budget revenues in 2016 were taken into account when drafting the budget. At the initial stage, the risks relating to the abolishment of the EU's trade preferences were also taken into consideration. However, as the status quo persists in this issue, the budget's revenue side has been recalculated.
The budget has been drafted based on projected economic indicators and the results of financial and economic activities.
The Consolidated Budget's revenue is calculated at 2,334,105,000 roubles, whereas its expenditures are estimated at 4,798,790,000 roubles. The consolidated budget will remain unbalanced: the deficit is fixed at 2,205,719,000 roubles.
For the prompt and full payment of pensions the draft budget provides the State Unitary Social Insurance Fund (SUSIF) with necessary funding sources at the expense of reducing the republican budget's funding ratio.
«If the SUSIF budget is provided with actual funding sources, taking into borrowed funds, the consolidated budget lacks for 1.1 billion roubles of funding sources for covering social items," said Yelena Girzhul.
According to the minister, «the consolidated budget’s expenditures do not include all the needs of budget funded organisations, which is almost 6 billion roubles.
At the same time, the draft budget provides for the recovery of unpaid salaries in 2016, which as of 1 December 2015 amounted to 393 million roubles.
«The indebtedness to public sector employees is included in the planned expenditures. If there is a funding source, these debts will be paid off," clarified Yelena Girzhul.
Both the republican and local budgets are also unprofitable. The republican budget's revenue side is estimated at 1,478,373,000 roubles (855,731,000 roubles for local budgets), whereas its expenditures are calculated at 3,348,800,000 roubles (1,449,989,000 for local budgets). The republican budget deficit, according to the draft, amounts to 1,870,426,000 roubles (335,292,000 roubles for local budgets).
Considering the fact that all local budgets are provided with funds to cover social protection items, the budget draft proposes to establish a reserve fund of transfers. At the same time, the guideline on tax allocation to republican and local budgets will remain at the level of 2015.
The approved draft budget has retained the possibility to use, if required, housing maintenance taxes for financing the payment of salaries. This issue is under the jurisdiction of municipal and district councils.
The draft provides for an inflation rate of 2% instead of previous 4−6%. The new estimates are based, in particular, on the current year's indicators: the deflation rate was 1.3% over 11 months in 2015. At the same time, the budget provides for a 3% indexation of salaries in January and for another 2% in July (an average annual rise in salary is determined at 3.5%). And the average pension rate is expected to rise by 4%.
During the government's meeting it was emphasised that the principle budget policy documents, including the concept for budget and tax policy, the forecast of socio-economic development, had not been considered by the Supreme Council. That is why, when drafting the budget, the ministries involved had to rely on the law «On the republican budget for 2015 and the planning period of 2016−2018».
The draft budget approved today is to be considered by new Supreme Council deputies, who may propose their amendments. At the same time, the parliament will have to determine additional funding sources for covering the budget's social protection items at an amount of over 1 billion roubles.
