MOSCOW, December 20 (RIA Novosti) - President Vladimir Putin signed Wednesday the 2007 federal draft budget law, the Kremlin news service said.
The law was adopted by the State Duma, the lower house, November 24 and approved by the Federation Council, the upper house, December 8.
Under the new budget, revenues are expected at 6,965.3 billion rubles ($262 billion), and spending is set at 5,463.5 billion rubles ($206 billion). That will put the budget surplus at 1,502 billion rubles ($56.54 billion).
GDP will be 31.22 trillion rubles ($1.17 trillion), and inflation is expected to be 6.5-8%. The average annual ruble rate against the dollar is expected to be 26.50 rubles to the dollar, and the oil price for the Urals crude blend is forecast at $61 per barrel.
Spending on the national economy will increase 45.5%, compared with the 2006 budget, to 496 billion rubles ($18.8 billion).
In particular, the government will increase budget spending on the development of infrastructure. Funds would first go to finance road construction and the development of the power sector, according to Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov.
Defense spending will rise 23% to 822 billion rubles ($31.1 billion), including 594 billion rubles ($22.5 billion) for the Armed Forces, 121 billion rubles ($4.6 billion) on research and development, and 12.1 billion rubles ($460 million) for the nuclear weapons complex.
Spending on national security will also increase 23%, to 665 billion rubles ($25.2 billion), including 189 billion rubles ($7.2 billion) for the Interior Ministry and 113 billion rubles ($4.3 billion) for security services.
The government also intends to allocate extra resources to the Federal targeted program for Russian civil aviation development until 2015.
Spending on education will rise 35% to 278 billion rubles ($10.6 billion), whereas spending on health and sports will rise 41%, to 206 billion rubles ($7.8 billion).
Zhukov said earlier the government's social spending in 2007 will involve greater expenditures on national priority projects.
The Russian government is implementing a major socially oriented program, outlined by President Vladimir Putin in September 2005 in a bid to improve the quality of life of ordinary citizens, a goal which has been given priority for the first time in post-Soviet Russia.
The program comprises four so-called national priority projects: Comfortable and Affordable Housing, Development of the Agricultural-Industrial Complex, Health, and Education.
"The financing of the national project on health will be increased almost 70% in 2007, to more than 100 billion rubles (about $3.7 billion), the financing of the project on education will be raised 66% and on construction of affordable housing more than 30%," Zhukov said.
A total of 2.8 million rubles ($105,000) rubles have been earmarked from the budget to support former president Boris Yeltsin, who resigned December 31, 1999.
