Integrated Assessment of Budget Sustainability of Russian Regions for the Purpose of Financial Support of Program Expenditures

Effective management of public finances is necessary to achieve such objectives as ensuring nationalsovereignty and improving the living standards of citizens. However, uneven territorial developmentleads to socio-economic disparities. This requires the development of individual trajectories and growth points for regions using adaptive budget policy. The study aims to develop a methodological tool and methods for determining the sustainability of territorial budgets, keeping in mind the financial support of program expenditures and the effective implementation of national strategic goals. The object of the study was the sustainability of Russian regions’ budgets. Statistical and economic-mathematical methods ensured the reliability of the study. It is based on the data of the Ministry of Finance and the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, which allows to determine various aspects of budget sustainability and conduct an assessment to ensure the country’s strategic national priorities. An overview of current trends and factors ensuring the sustainability of territorial budgets is presented. A methodological tool for monitoring the sustainability of territorial budgets and clustering regions by levels of revenues and expenditures is proposed. It is tested on the data of budget reporting of Russian regions; the characteristics and classes of budget sustainability are defined. The sectoral, infrastructural and socio-economic regional peculiarities that determine the revenues and expenditures of regional budgets are identified. The scientific and practical significance of the study lies in the development of approaches to multidimensional assessment of budget sustainability and identification of individual national strategies of regional development and “anti-stress” scenarios of budget policy.