Execution of the Federal Budget in Q1 2020

Sergey G. Belev – Head of Budget Policy Department of the Gaidar Institute; Senior Researcher of the Budget Policy Department, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (Moscow, Russia). Е-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Tatyana V. Tischenko – Senior Researcher of the Gaidar Institute; Senior Researcher of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Candidate of Economic Sciences (Moscow, Russia). Е-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

At the period-end of Q1 2020, the federal budget ran a slight surplus, however it was a temporary result because oil and gas revenues go into the budget in a timely manner and they record a downturn against Q1 2019. Non-oil and gas revenues although went up but that was due to the fact that they are received with a quarterly lag.

On the whole, the situation with the pandemic spread sets a junction for the fiscal policy: to finance the shortfall of non-oil and gas revenues (potentially for regions’ budgets coupled with extrabudgetary funds) primarily from borrowings (in accordance with the current fiscal rule) or by extensive use of the NWF funds (deviating from the fiscal rule).

Key words: federal budget, revenue, oil and gas revenues, non-oil and gas revenues, expenditure, taxes.