Deficit budget bill passes lower house

December 20, BPN. The bill “On the 2023 Republican Budget” has passed in the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Belarusian National Assembly, on the second reading.

The House of Representatives’ press office quoted senior MP Ludmiła Niževič as saying that next year’s budget policy will be aimed, among other things, at “strengthening the social focus of expenditures,” as well as at “optimizing the structure of public debt.”

However, the bill provides for a steep increase in spending on security and defense in the first place. The government intends to spend 4.07 billion rubels on the law enforcement and security agencies in 2023. This is a 29.6 percent increase from 2022.

Defense spending is projected at 2.77 billion with 2.64 billion set aside for the Belarusian Armed Forces.

In all, budget revenues are estimated at 33.4 billion rubels and expenses, at 36.5 billion. The budget has a deficit of some three billion.