Most of Russia's Government Expenditure in 2002 Allocated to Social Needs

Most of government expenditure in 2002 has gone towards social needs, as stipulated by a federal investment programme. As a Rosbalt correspondent reports, this was announced by Deputy Russian Minister for Economic Development and Trade Yuri Isayev at a press conference on Monday, December 23. Out of a total of USD 1.8 billion he said that USD 1.25 billion had gone towards social needs, including USD 600 million on housing. About USD 300 million was spent on education, culture and public health, over USD 28 million was spent on science and about USD 130 million went towards the construction of underground systems in various cities. In addition, Mr Isayev said that USD 300 million had been spent on national defense.

Mr Isayev added that the ministry had received demands on budget money totaling USD 8.5 billion but the ministry was only able to finance the most important programmes, which could not be financed by other sources.