A surplus budget is believed to be good for the state. So or is it? To answer this question, you need to know the definition. So what is a surplus? Next we will talk about it.
What is a surplus?
Let's start with the definition. A surplus budget is a positive balance. In other words, revenues exceed expenses. There is also the concept of “primary” surplus and “secondary”. Almost all states have a debt. As a rule, these are obligations on federal loan bonds. The “primary” surplus budget is an indicator excluding the cost of servicing government debt. For example, after all expenses on obligations in the budget, about $ 1 trillion remained. Payments on federal loan bond obligations - $ 0.1 trillion. Consequently, 0.9 trillion is a “secondary” surplus. We give him a definition.
A “secondary” surplus budget is the balance of funds after deducting all government obligations. Significant indicators are relations to GDP. Gross domestic product is a macroeconomic indicator that shows the level of production in a country. Without it, it makes no sense to analyze the surplus. For example, about $ 1 billion is left in the budget. How to determine - is it a lot or a little? For this, it is necessary to compare it with GDP as a percentage. For example, in a year, GDP amounted to $ 1 trillion. The surplus in this case will be equal to 0.1%.
Types of budgets
What does a surplus, deficit, balanced budget mean? Consider the types. Roughly budgets are divided into three types:
- Surplus - we have already given him a definition. Revenues exceed expenses.
- Balanced - income and expenses are equal.
- Scarce - expenses exceed revenues.
We hope that this is understandable. Knowing the essence of these concepts, we can answer which budget is better: deficit or surplus? At first glance it seems that the second. We agree that it is better when the money remains than when it is not enough. But is this the case with the state budget? We will analyze further.
Is surplus a plus?
You can’t think that extra money in the budget is good. This is actually not the case. It is better for the economy when the state budget has a small deficit, but finds borrowed money to cover it than a huge surplus. Why is that?
The fact is that the economy needs free funds, money. Growth is impossible without investment. When money settles in the budget, and even more so in various accumulation funds, this is not a pragmatic policy, because money does not go to development. This is equivalent to the fact that a person put a million under his pillow instead of investing it in a profitable business and receiving twice as much annually.
It was the accumulative policy of the former Minister of Finance Kudrin that formed several reserve funds in Russia. Of course, the media say this is good. When there were excess profits from the high price of hydrocarbons, we were able to accumulate a small egg, which we used in the crisis.
However, many economists do not think so. They argue that instead of saving money in funds, they could be invested in various projects. This would make it possible to diversify the economy and get off the "oil needle". Ex-Minister Kudrin himself spoke out quite unambiguously on this issue. He believed that money was simply stolen and as a result there would be nothing. Therefore, it is better to save them than to hand out to the pockets of officials.
Where does the surplus come from? Let us analyze the causes of the surplus state budget.
Causes
The nature of the appearance of excess returns is simple: our country depends on the export of raw materials. They make up about half of government revenue. In Russia, expenses are planned based on today's oil prices. At the beginning of 2017, a barrel of black gold on world markets gives about $ 50. The government sets this price for the future, knowing the volumes of production and sales. If export volumes remain the same, and the price on world markets jumps sharply, say, to $ 100 per barrel, then our country will receive a huge surplus. It is no coincidence that the most significant indicators in relation to GDP were the oil exporting countries: Kuwait (22.7% in 2010), Norway (10.5% in 2010).
The most balanced budget is observed in developed countries, the income of which does not depend on the export of raw materials: Germany, Luxembourg, Denmark.
The structure of income and expenses
Total budget revenues are divided into two categories:
- Tax.
- Non-tax.
Tax are divided into:
- income tax;
- on property;
- government duty;
- excise duty;
- taxes on comprehensive income;
- on goods and services sold in the country.
Non-tax revenues:
- from foreign economic activity;
- profit in the framework of public-private partnership;
- payments using natural resources;
- fines, sanctions;
- income from the provision of various services;
- confiscation of property;
- return of unclaimed subsidies, etc.
In addition to the above items of income, a surplus can create various gratuitous receipts from people, other states, supranational entities, public organizations.
State expenses are spent on:
- defense, security, law enforcement system, including judicial;
- education and science;
- medicine;
- Department of Housing and Utilities;
- innovation activity;
- environmental protection;
- culture and sport;
- MASS MEDIA;
- social sphere;
- interstate transfers.
