Russia to Spend an Extra $67B on Social Spending by 2024, Says Finance Minister

Russia plans to spend an extra 4.13 trillion rubles ($66.7 billion) by 2024 to meet social development targets set by President Vladimir Putin, but it will not affect macroeconomic stability, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Wednesday.Describing the demographic situation in Russia as “very difficult,” Putin set out plans this month to boost the birth rate, including by offering payments for low-income families with small children and allowances for first-time mothers.Siluanov said 3.77 trillion rubles of the additional spending by 2024 would come from the federal budget, with the remainder being spent from regional budget funds.”An unprecedented volume of funds will be allocated to the implementation of the pledge to provide citizens with social support,” Siluanov said. “These decisions will not affect budget and macroeconomic stability.”Siluanov said his ministry would present budget amendments to the government by Feb. 11 in an attempt to provide funds for people as quickly as possible.The new spending is on top of 25.7 trillion rubles that Putin ordered in 2018 to be spent on 13 “National Projects” — policy areas encompassing social and infrastructure spending, one of which is demography. 
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