President Yevgeny Shevchuk commented on the approval of the 2016 budget by the Supreme Council. According to the head of state, the problem of budget lies deeper than a search for a billion roubles — the economic policy that has been pursued for decades does not yield profits to the country. In particular, nearly a half of pension fund means are not covered with tax payments.
«As is seen from the budget, the redeployment of funds cannot solve a deficit problem. Here we have economic policy issues, the current state of economic affairs, the outcome of the country's unrecognised status, which resulted in a whole group of problems with exports, investment, transport and so on. That's where such a disparity comes from," said Shevchuk.
The president cited as an example the current legislation that has been in effect since 2000.
«You can't address new risks with outdated instruments. If the rules of a game do not change, there won't be any new tax payments to the budget," noted Yevgeny Shevchuk.
Commenting on the 2016 budget, the head of state said «you can't pay wages with air money». The president underscored that some planned earnings are only possible when transport streams and a consumption level are restored.
«It is known that the country's consumption level is also falling, and the price situation is quite different. Even excise revenues are falling because the price for excisable goods is decreasing. Take oil and petroleum prices as an example… It is important to avoid a paradigm of delusions. The budget is the state's coffers and reflects the economic situation based on the existing taxation base. Therefore, the budget simply cannot regulate all economic processes," noted the president.
He also said that the Supreme Council had approved the last year's budget with a considerable deficit, which in many respects resulted in pension and wage arrears.
«The budget was approved with a deficit of 550 million roubles. Without revenues covering this deficit, it was essential to determine how to pay wages and pensions. Recall that wage arrears amount to about 300 million roubles. Had the last year's budget been secured, that is with this 550 million, we wouldn't have had problems with the payment of wages and pensions," concluded the president.
