| MOSCOW - The Yabloko faction will not support the 2004
draft budget to be considered by the State Duma in the first reading on
September 19, 2003. According to Yabloko leader Grigory
Yavlinsky, the draft budget proposed by the government "is virtually
the same as its predecessors". The draft budget retains Russia's economic
policies of previous years and does not set either clear-cut objectives
or mechanisms for resolving key problems in the country, noted Yavlinsky.
Moreover, according to the Yabloko leader, the government did not allow
for RUR200bn (about $6.52bn) in additional revenues to the federal budget.
Yavlinsky believes that the distribution of funds between the federal
center (62 percent) and regions (38 percent) to be unfair.
Yabloko presented an alternative outlook on Russian budget policies
today. In particular, the faction proposed to "lower VAT to 15 percent,
introduce a single tax on small and medium-sized family enterprises and
provide powerful assistance to education."
See also:
Budget
for 2004
|
