Russian Regions' Budgets in H1 2020

In H1 2020, tax and non-tax revenues of the consolidated budgets of subjects of the Russian Federation contracted by 8.9% in relation to the corresponding period of 2019, which is close to the corresponding index for the first 5 months of the current year and marks stabilization of the situation following the collapse seen in April and May. Simultaneously, the outstripping growth of fiscal transfers from the federal budget has resulted not only in cutting budget revenues in the lower-revenue regions but to ensure high growth rates. In H1 2020, total expenditures of the consolidated budgets of the Russian Federation amounted to Rb 6.6 trillion going up in relation to H1 2019 by 19.1%. This growth significantly exceeds current inflation rate and is due to mainly the implementation of anti-crisis measures. Despite sluggish growth in regions’ debt burden, it has remained at a low level and additional fiscal assistance from the federal budget in the majority of cases allows not to avoid its growth in the lover-revenue regions