Priority support for the poor in the economic crisis: opportunities and limitations

Significant reduction of federal and regional budget under the influence of a new economic crisis is pushing to revise spending priorities. In the field of social support of the population it is focused on the great importance to strengthen the targeting of social programs, which should contribute to more effective spending of budgetary funds. The article describes the condition and the trends of the costs of social support in the budgets of the three key- regions during the pre-crisis period, analyses the barriers in targeting social expenditures, identifies conditions and limitations in order to integrate the principle of needs testing in a system of categorical grants and benefits.