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This year`s budget deficit to be higher than initially projected

Belarus’ 2010 national budget deficit is expected to be higher than initially projected, as the government has recently promised to raise pay in the government-funded sector and increase social security for some groups, Finance Minister Andrey Kharkavets told reporters in Minsk on Monday, as quoted by BelaPAN.

The country`s budget revenues may be smaller “due to peculiar decisions made, above all, by Russia,” and the government now has to revise its deficit projection, the minister said.

“I would not say that it is very bad,” Mr. Kharkavets said. “We will use funds saved earlier to plug the budget deficit. We have been generating a budget surplus in last few years.”

An additional 2,000 billion to 2,500 billion rubels (between $667 million and $833 million) may be needed this year to fund the deficit, according to the minister.

Belarus had a national budget deficit of about two trillion rubels ($672.3 million) in the first seven months of 2010, up from 1.7 trillion rubels in the first six months, according to the finance ministry.

A budget deficit of 3,844.5 billion rubels had been projected for the year.

Between January and July, the government`s national budget revenues amounted to 16.3 trillion rubels, or 46 percent of the target set for the entire year.

As of August 1, tax arrears stood at 76.9 billion rubels, 18.2 billion rubels more than on January 1.

The national budget`s expenditures totaled 18.3 trillion rubels, or 46.5 percent of what was projected for the entire year.