The ineffectiveness of budget spending doubled last year, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said at a meeting of the Government Presidium. Spending on public servants is not efficient either, he said, adding that the administrative staff has been reduced by 4%, while spending on it increased by 6%.
A total of 200 billion roubles were spent inefficiently in 2008. "In 2009, total inefficient regional and municipal spending – squandered money, essentially – was 415 billion roubles nationwide," the prime minister said.
What does inefficient spending mean? Take spending on education, 397.5 billion roubles this year. As much as 142 billion roubles were paid to auxiliary personnel – administrators, accountants and utility services, which means that the money was squandered.
This would be "enough to raise teachers' salaries by an average 27%, or to build just under 400 new schools," Putin said.
The government continues to spend huge sums on social assistance, but it turns out that 40% of social allowances and other benefits go to people who do not belong to disadvantaged groups.
"What we need is to work with people, with every family, to help those who really need it, instead of spreading benefits like butter on a toast – the layer gets so thin you can't see it anymore," the prime minister said.
This is vivid proof of the inefficiency of many regional officials, on whose maintenance the government is spending so much. The majority of last year's regional anti-crisis plans envisaged administrative optimisation, but unfortunately, this has not helped cut spending.
Putin said: "It is worth noting that spending on staff increased by 6% though staff size decreased. The reduction was 4% while costs rose by 6%, and inefficient spending on public management totalled 83 billion roubles."
Squandering funds is inadmissible considering our budget deficit, he said, adding that the administrative staff will be reduced by 20% within three years.
The prime minister said regions would be encouraged to enhance their efficiency. In particular, the government will "establish targeted grants based on the results of today's analyses. These grants will go to the twenty Russian regions that increased their efficiency the most last year." He said the same approach would be used after the 2010 results are summed up.
Anastasia Savinykh