State of the Consolidated Budgets of the Northwestern Federal District Subjects: Dynamics and Regional Ratings

The study of the financial potential of territories is still relevant and significant in the context of increasing external challenges to the sustainability of the Russian economy. Due to the effective management of the resources and opportunities available to the regions, mainly budgetary ones, the territories are able to maintain the positive dynamics of economic growth, despite the impact of negative effects from external shocks. The budgetary potential of the regions, which occupies a central position in the structure of their financial potential, contributes to the effective regulation of the regional economy and the social sphere. The development of effective budgetary instruments increases the independence of the country's subjects in decision-making, as the region will be independent on the allocated funds and will be able to pursue a more independent policy, taking into account current needs and their priorities. The limitation may be the high subsidization of the regions, reflecting their inability to independently provide for expenditure obligations and high debt obligations, which require significant financial resources to cover them. Thus, by the end of 2024, four subjects of the Northwestern Federal District had commercial loans that were expensive in modern conditions of the monetary policy of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. Based on this, it is important to analyze the dynamics of key budget indicators in the regions of the Northwestern Federal District to determine the most important trends in the development of regional budgets, which was the aim of this work. As a result of the study, a pattern of volatility of budget revenues in resource-producing regions was noted; stability, but restraint in the growth rate of budget revenues and expenditures in regions specializing in the manufacturing industry.