Putin Predicts Surplus of Russia's Budget at Around 2% GDP for 2014

Vladimir Putin estimates the surplus of Russia's budget to be about 2 percent GDP for 2014.

MOSCOW, December 18 (Sputnik) — Russia’s federal budget for 2014 will have a surplus of 1.9 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday during his annual year-end press conference.

“The federal budget this year will have a surplus, that is income will be above our expenses by 1.2 trillion rubles, that’s about 1.9% of the GDP,” Putin said.

In November, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that Russia needed to adjust its budget to the new reality.

Previously, Russia's federal budget surplus for 2014 was expected at 0.4 percent of GDP.

This is the tenth annual press conference held by the Russian president. Annual press conferences with the Russian president are held every December, the sessions normally last up to several hours. During these sessions, the President answers uncensored questions from journalists and reflects on the outgoing year. There are no restrictions on the questions journalists can ask the Russian president and no time limits.