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Do we need to cut spending in the North Caucasus? Do you think that the burden on the federal budget related to funding the republics of North Caucasus Federal District is too high?
Ruslan Grinberg, director of the Institute of Economics of RAS
The main problem is not the amount of money but how it is spent. Here, perhaps , there are some reserves. As for the amount, it seems to me that there are no specific distortions.
The problem, of course, is the funds that should be spent for the benefit of the people and not go into the pockets of the already wealthy people.
This is a problem, but its solution does not depend on the Ministry of Finance but on the general situation in the republics.
And there are provisions to prevent misappropriation.
I do not think that the amount of funds for the republics of the North Caucasus is a problem.
Will the amount of funds be eventually reduced?
I am one of those experts who do not believe that this cost reduction is an actual problem.
Today there was a panic about the fact that the growth rate has dramatically reduced, and the country is involved in stagnation, and some nervous people even think that a recession will occur soon.
0I'm not nervous, and I think that we will be able to avoid a recession.
Of course, this all leads to a tight budget, because there will be no such increase in revenues.
But I still would not fell into a panic here.
We do have very good prices for oil.
And apparently, we will continue to have a world prices at a consistently high level due to the deterioration of the international situation in connection with Syria and Iran.
It must be hard to achieve some harmonization in the foreseeable future, but if oil prices remain at 105-110-115 dollars, and probably it is quite likely, we can stop worrying about spending cuts.
Could the Caucasus republics stop being subsided?
I do not think it can happen quickly, but it's real.
The main problem is jobs. In the North Caucasus, the unemployment rate reaches half of the working population.
Therefore, we must take care of our priorities here.
Just a structural policy must be strictly adhered to, though it is only easy to say this.
I am aware that this is a very difficult thing.
But, in my opinion , there is no alternative except for vocational education plus growth point.