Realism, Balance, and Honesty Ar e the Principles of the 2003 State Budget

The State Budget of Ukraine for 2003 is formed on the basis of the Budget Code and fundamentals of the country’s economic policy for the coming year, Prime Minister Anatoly Kinakh told a September 19 seminar council, Forming State and Local Budgets for the Year 2003: Developing Internal Budget Relations, reports Interfax. In the premier’s view, in forming the budget the principles of realism, balance, and honesty were taken into account. In addition, Mr. Kinakh is convinced, the budget should be guided by overall state interests and not be a hostage to “narrow political and group goals.” In the premier’s opinion, major effort should be concentrated on drawing up the revenue part of the budget and passing decisions on the search for additional sources to finance it. He also informed seminar participants that the government believes it necessary to increase the role of the regions. Thus, the share of local budgets in the total budget is planned to be increased next year from 40.4% to 45.6%. The premier opined that in the draft state budget recently presented for the parliament’s consideration a “great step forward” had been made in terms of creating a transparent democratic budget system.