The Duma speaker, Boris Gryzlov, said the lower house will consider the draft on a first reading May 25, on a second reading June 29 and on a third reading July 6.
At a meeting Thursday the Russian government approved the draft federal budget for the next three years, which is aimed at ensuring stability of the Russian financial system. Under it, the budget surplus will be 74.1 billion rubles ($2.9 billion) in 2008, 14.2 billion rubles ($552.74 million) in 2009, and zero in 2010.
Federal budget income will be 6,644.4 billion rubles ($258.64 billion), or 19% of GDP, and budget expenditure will amount to 6,570.3 billion rubles ($255.75 billion) in 2008. In 2009, federal budget income will stand at 7,465.4 billion rubles ($290.6 billion), or 18.8% of GDP, and budget expenditure will be 7,451.2 billion rubles ($290.04 billion). Budget income and expenditure will stand at the equal level of 8,089.9 billion rubles ($314.9 billion), or 18.1% of GDP, in 2010.
Under the federal law, which follows the president's budget address to parliament for 2008-2010 in early March, the Russian Stabilization Fund, set up in 2004 as a cushion against inflation and world market price fluctuations to accumulate windfall oil revenues, will be transformed into the Reserve Fund and the Future Generations Fund.
