PM Medvedev expects growth of non-oil and gas budget revenues to persist

Russia’s government expects the growth of non-oil and gas budget revenues to persist this year, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said at a cabinet meeting focused on draft amendments to the federal budget of 2018 and planned period on Tuesday.

The document envisions an increase in total amount of budget revenues by over 1.8 trillion rubles ($29.3 bln) in 2018, he said. "Those additional funds flow to the budget not only because the situation on the commodity markets has improved, though indeed, this factor is playing a notable role. But moreover, revenues not related to oil and gas exports are rising as was the case last year, and quicker than expected," PM said, adding that the government expects "those positive trends to persist during the year."

According to Medvedev, the document also implies an increase of budget expenditures of 62 bln rubles ($1 bln).

Overall, the federal budget for 2018 will become more balanced, he said, adding that the plan is to "run a budget surplus… of almost 0.5 trillion rubles ($8.1 bln), or 0.5% of GDP."