A Methodology for Ranking and Grouping Budget Expenditures for Assessing Their Degree of Priority

The article examines the acute and systemic problem of the lack of a unified, transparent, and reproducible approach to prioritizing budget expenditures in the Russian Federation, despite the formal existence of a well-developed architecture of strategic and program-oriented planning. A critical analysis of the existing instruments for allocating budget funds is carried out, including state programs, national and federal projects, socio-economic development initiatives, and preserved federal targeted programs. The key drawbacks of these mechanisms have been identified: weak alignment with strategic planning documents, the predominance of current expenditures over project expenditures, fragmented management, as well as a significant amount of reserved allocations that distort the real picture of priorities. Particular attention is paid to the limitations of existing methods for evaluating the effectiveness of programs, which do not allow us to assess the degree of strategic importance of specific expenditures. Based on the analysis, an original methodology for ranking and grouping federal budget expenditures is proposed, focused on practical application at the stage of budget drafting. The methodology is based on a comprehensive assessment of each type of expenditure based on three complementary criteria: value, feasibility, and feasibility. Additionally, the financial potential is taken into account — the share of expenditures in the total budget of the department, which avoids overestimating small but formally “priority” items. The need for a systematic implementation of the “zero-based budgeting” approach, increased transparency of cost assessment procedures, and a transition from inertial budgeting to a managed, results-oriented, and strategically coordinated allocation of resources is emphasized. The proposed methodology can become the basis for improving the effectiveness of budget policy, strengthening the responsibility of agencies, and achieving national development goals in the face of severe budget constraints.