Pension
The head of the Ministry of Finance, Anton Siluanov, said that pensions will be indexed by 7.5% in 2024. This is exactly the level of inflation predicted by the ministry.
Speaking at the Federation Council, the minister said: “Next year pensions will be indexed to the 7.5% inflation rate projected for the current year, and the average size of such a pension will be 23 thousand 244 rubles.”
At the same time, Siluanov noted that the total cost of indexing pensions will be almost 600 billion rubles. Earlier, the press service of the Ministry of Labor reported that more than 16 trillion rubles will be allocated next year to pay pensions, insurance and social benefits.
Siluanov also promised that in addition to pensions, maternity capital payments, payments under programs to support families with children, and payments to low-income citizens will be indexed.
“All the social obligations we envisage will be indexed and the necessary resources will be provided,” he emphasized.
No good guesses
The minister also said that the Russian budget should not be guided by well-intentioned forecasts and that one should be prepared for anything. Economic and financial fragmentation is accelerating; Structural imbalances such as sanctions have not disappeared.
“We must be prepared for a variety of scenarios and the budget should not be based on positive predictions. The budget must take into account all accepted obligations and provide appropriate resources,” Siluanov said.
“We need to be prepared for everything to realize all plans and provide resources for them,” the head of the Ministry of Finance said.
The agency expects steady GDP growth of 2.2-2.3% annually over the next three years.
Russia’s defense capacity
Siluanov said that providing support to participants in the military operation in Ukraine and the defense capability of the country as a whole is one of the main priorities of the budget.
“I will go into more detail on budget priorities. The first priority, we talked about this too, is to strengthen the country’s defense capability and support those participating in a special military operation. “The resources planned for next year make it possible to fully meet the objectives of the special military operation,” he emphasized.
It is planned to spend 10.8 trillion rubles on national defense.
At the same time, support to key sectors will also be increased.
“Main priorities: radio electronics will continue to receive full funding in aircraft production. Self-driving is a new priority and a new national project; 66 billion rubles will be allocated for this. We will provide more than 40 percent of the drones from our own production. “Machine tool construction is a new priority, we are actually creating the basis of a new industry and we are investing about 130 billion rubles from the budget there,” he said.
Additionally, additional funds will be allocated for the development of electric transport, regional airports and maritime transport infrastructure.
Online alcohol trading
The Ministry of Finance also advocated legalizing the sale of alcohol online. “We have ministries that support it, in this case the Ministry of Finance supports it, and we also have ministries that are categorically against it. This offer has its pros and cons. I think there are more advantages,” Siluanov explained.
The minister admitted that currently you can buy a lot of “roasted” alcohol online, but the authorities still cannot fully control this area.
“In my opinion, it is better to organize this process here and maintain order there,” he said.
Source: Gazeta
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