Russian Lawmakers Give Initial OK to ’99 Austerity Budget

After an emotional plea by Prime Minister Yevgeny M. Primakov, Russia’s parliament voted initial approval Thursday of an austerity budget intended to pull the nation out of its grim economic crisis.

Lawmakers, who in past years have bridled at such tight budgets, said the economic situation--the worst since the Soviet collapse--is too dire for approval to be delayed.

The lower house of parliament, the Duma, refrained from lambasting the government and voted, 303 to 65, to approve the 1999 budget after its first reading.

Primakov rallied lawmakers’ support in his speech, threatening to resign and take his Cabinet with him if the budget was rejected.

“The question is whether we’re ready to undertake responsibility for overcoming the crisis or will again sink into debates, mutual recriminations and half-steps,” Primakov said.

Last year, the Communists who dominate the Duma demanded more spending on social programs and the dismissal of leading reformers from the Cabinet as conditions for approving the budget.

Now the severity of the crisis has made it clear the government doesn’t have money for more social spending. And Russia’s new Cabinet, formed as a compromise with the Communists, has none of the radical reformers who had alienated many in the Duma.

A lean budget is essential for resolving the economic crisis. It is also a key condition for getting new foreign loans, which Russia desperately needs to help pay off its huge debts.

Many lawmakers said the budget is far from perfect but agreed that swift action was necessary.

“The budget rejection or a significant delay in its passage would bring our country to such a situation that the economic crisis of August and September would seem like a time of economic prosperity,” Alexander Zhukov, chairman of the Duma’s budget committee, told the session.

August and September were among the most painful months for many Russians.

Their wages and savings lost value by the day as the currency fell, banks froze individual accounts and food all but disappeared from some stores during a few days of panic buying.

Russia’s coffers are so bare that the entire 1999 budget calls for government spending of just $29 billion and revenues of only $24 billion. By comparison, the U.S. government collects and spends more than $30 billion in an average week.