Russia's Finance Ministry has proposed to raise some taxes to tackle budget deficit next year even if oil prices stand at $75 per barrel, a Russian business daily said on Thursday.
The Finance ministry has sent to President Dmitry Medvedev its proposed guidelines for the next year's budget based on the average price of Urals blend crude oil of $75 per barrel, $5 more than previous estimates, Vedomosti said.
The budget deficit is expected to account for 3,6% of Russia's GDP in 2011, instead of initial estimates of 4%. The deficit is expected to decrease in the next two years and amount to nothing by 2015, the ministry said.
In order to patch budget holes, finance ministry officials have proposed raising some taxes, including the mineral extraction tax and export duties on raw materials, Vedomosti said. This would give the country an additional 379.2 billion rubles ($12.1 billion) in 2011, 396.6 billion rubles ($12.7 billion) in 2012 and 449.5 billion rubles (14.4 billion) in 2013, it said.
The ministry has also sent to the president its proposals on basic approaches to forming the national budget in 2011-13.
The budget revenues and expenses are projected to increase in the next three years, reaching 8.08 trillion rubles ($260 million) and 9.86 trillion rubles ($316 billion), respectively, which means that the state budget will still lack funds, the paper said.
MOSCOW, June 17 (RIA Novosti)
