With parliamentary polls set for 2007 and presidential elections in 2008, the government aims to adopt the budget ahead of time, to ensure political and macro-economic stability.
Alexei Kudrin said at President Vladimir Putin's meeting with Cabinet ministers, "The government, the State Duma [the lower house of Russia's parliament] and the Federation Council [the upper house] have a shared opinion: that the 2008 budget must be endorsed in the spring/fall session. This means that it must be submitted in the second half of April, and adopted in the first days of July."
"We have a financial plan until 2009. We need to finalize it until 2010," the finance minister said, adding that the 2008 budget should be drafted with a three-year perspective.
