MOSCOW. Nov 28 (Interfax-AVN) - The State Duma adopted Russia's 2004 federal budget in the fourth and final reading on Friday.
The document was passed in a 245-151 vote with two abstentions, with a required minimum of 226 votes.
The federal budget law is the sole document that has to go through four readings. The first reading approves the document's macroeconomic indicators; the second deals with distribution of spending among various budget sections; the third specifies distribution of spending within the document's sections and text; and the fourth reading represents a purely technical procedure to make editorial corrections.
At the same time, while considering the budget in the fourth reading, the deputies adopted a number of declassified provisions. They include information on individual debts of CIS and non-CIS nations to Russia, as well as the distribution of 2004 spending on equipping the country's armed forces and military units.
The 2004 budget projects the price of Russian oil at USD22 per barrel, GDP growth at 5%, and inflation between 8% and 10%. GDP is expected to total 15.3 trillion rubles next year.
Budget revenues are planned at RUB2,742bn (USD92.15bn), or 17.9% of GDP, and spending at RUB2,659bn (USD89.36bn), or 17.4% of GDP. The budget is expected to run a surplus of RUB83.4bn (USD (USD2.8bn), of 0.5% of GDP.
The biggest allocations are envisioned for national defense (RUB411.47bn or USD13.83bn), law enforcement and security (RUB310.58bn or USD10.44bn), education (RUB117.79bn or USD3.96bn), the social sector (RUB161.19bn or USD5.42bn), state debt servicing (RUB287.57bn or USD9.66bn), and financial assistance to other levels of the budget system (RUB813.97bn or USD27.36bn).