Questions to the Domestic Practice of Inter-Budgetary Regulation in the Pandemic Situation of 2020

Abstract

In the context of the development of the pandemic in 2020, the federal budget and subnational budgets of the Russian Federation were executed with significant deviations from the indicators and norms approved by the relevant laws and decisions. Certain provisions of the Budget Code of the Russian Federation were suspended. A mechanism for flexible execution of budgets has been formed. Its use led to a significant increase in budget expenditures and the federal budget deficit, despite the fact that the current law on the federal budget determined a high level of its surplus. The subjects of the Russian Federation and municipalities in the conditions of the pandemic formed a new order for additional financial resources, the amount of which was specified and changed during 2020. These circumstances affected the level of budget security of the consolidated budgets of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and caused a radical increase in inter-budget transfers compared to 2019. To assess the effectiveness of decisions in the field of inter-budget regulation implemented in 2020, a general analysis of the conditions of legal regulation, as well as the timing and consequences of the distribution and provision of inter-budget transfers from the federal budget to the budgets of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation was carried out. A methodology is proposed and a factor analysis of the relationship between the volume of federal support and the needs of the regions in obtaining it is carried out. The results of the evaluation indicate both that there is no strict correlation between them, and that additional support was not accompanied by the setting of appropriate goals and objectives, and the timely preparation of a methodology for allocating resources. The proposed methodology for assessing the mechanisms and results of the distribution of financial assistance for each subject of the Russian Federation has shown its effectiveness and can be recommended for its application in future periods.