The revisions had been mainly agreed upon by a conciliatory commission of ministers and deputies last month, before Russian troops entered Chechnya. The new figures do not envisage raising total expenditures to finance the costly Chechen operation.
A Finance Ministry source quoted by Reuters on Monday said the basic figures would not be changed because of the war but that the government would cut some investment projects to obtain the necessary funds.
Specific budget articles will not be discussed in the Duma until the third reading, but the unchanged basic figures are likely to anger many deputies who have said mere tinkering with some budget articles would not cover the cost of the war. Estimates of the war's total cost range from 3.5 trillion rubles ($1 billion) to 15 trillion rubles.
The government wants the Duma to approve the following figures: total revenues of 160.3 trillion rubles; total spending of 231.9 trillion rubles; and deficit of 71.6 trillion rubles.
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