Putin Adopts Russia’s 2016 Budget With 3% Deficit

The budget was adopted only for the next year instead of the traditional three-year period due to high volatility in the financial and commodity markets.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the federal budget for next year, according to an official statement published Tuesday on the governmental web portal for legal documents.

The state is expected to take in some $195 billion in revenue in 2016, while the budget deficit will stand at 3 percent of GDP, or over $33 billion.

The document projected inflation in Russia not to exceed 6.4 percent next year and the average price of the Russian Urals oil blend to be about $50 per barrel.

The limit on foreign debt by January 1, 2017, stands at $55.1 billion, according to the decree.

Under the 2016 budget, pensions will undergo mandatory indexation to increase by 4 percent and may be raised further to reflect the current economic and social environment.