Execution of local budgets in 2014: tension is not decreasing

Vladimir Putin’s “May decrees” have received the status of a national goal. On the background of decreasing economic performance exacerbated by external shocks, the implementation of these decrees has become a heavy burden for regional budgets without an adequate financial support from the federal budget. As a result, almost every Russian region has suffered losses by the end of 2014. The fallacy of the ongoing course of budget policy has long been criticized by many leading scholars and experts; moreover, they proposed positive recommendations on the development of alternative policies. Unfortunately, the results of 2014 prove that the RF Government has not abandoned the policy of budget consolidation. On the contrary, gratuitous financial assistance to the regions is actively transformed into debt financing in the form of budget loans. However, the regional authorities can rely on this quasi-support, which is a temporary factor, only provided that the budget is deficit-free and at the expense of abandonment of spending on economic development and on the improvement of welfare of the population...