Russia faces narrowing hydrocarbon tax base

摘要

Official Russian policy is to reduce the dependence of the public finances on oil and gas by cutting the 'non-oil-and-gas deficit' in the federal budget - what the budget deficit would be if there were no Mineral Extraction Tax or export duties - and by building up the oil-and-gas-financed Reserve Fund as a fiscal safety net. However, in May, Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov said budget spending in the next three years would have to be reviewed and revised. The budget outline plans for 2013-16, as he pointed out, do not take account of the recent Russian economic slowdown. The growth of federal budget spending would have to be held to 6-7% per annum in nominal terms, about 1% a year in real terms.