Imf and Budget

percent: The IMF predicts that the Russian economy will not grow by more than 1.5 percent without structural reforms and because of unfavorable demographics, according to The Moscow Times. According to IMF estimates, the budget deficit in 2016 will total 3.2 percent of GDP. That makes it necessary to consolidate the budget, and the IMF supports the idea of taking additional fiscal measures totaling 4 percent of GDP. In that way, the Russian budget can eliminate all deficits by 2020. However, private consumption and investment are likely to remain low in the medium term due to the slowdown in credit financing and tighter government fiscal policy. The IMF, however, feels that Moscow could accomplish more if it did not simply cut budget expenditures across the board, but analyzed the quality and productivity of each budget reduction individually. It could achieve about one-third of that total, or 4.2 percent of GDP, by increasing revenue, and the remaining two-thirds, or 7.6 percent, by reducing expenses. According to IMF estimates, Russia could consolidate up to 12 percent of GDP over the next three years. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.