Russian Lawmakers Reject Proposed Budget

Russia’s opposition-dominated lower house of parliament failed to muster enough votes Friday to pass the 1998 draft budget on its fourth and final reading.

Only 187 deputies in the Duma voted for the draft, well short of the required 226 majority in the 450-member chamber. Eighty deputies rejected it, and one abstained.

Earlier Friday, deputies rejected all major amendments to the spending plan that the government said were needed to make the budget more realistic.

Deputies voted 282 to 64 to reject the amendments, which were aimed at cutting budgeted expenditures by $4.7 billion.

The Cabinet had said it could not accept the budget’s spending proposals unless there was a corresponding increase in revenue. Finance Minister Mikhail M. Zadornov had said President Boris N. Yeltsin was likely to veto any budget that did not include the amendments the government sought.

The Duma had already approved the 1998 draft on three previous readings. Passage after the fourth reading--usually a formality--would have resulted in the document being sent to the upper chamber and then to Yeltsin.

But in his state of the nation address Tuesday, Yeltsin, who had earlier lobbied for the current draft, said the Duma must approve the series of amendments.

The government says turmoil on world financial markets forced the sudden changes that would slash budget spending after months of bargaining with the Duma.

Although Russia has not suffered the severe economic blows experienced by some Asian nations in recent months, its central bank has sharply raised interest rates to protect the ruble, making it much more expensive to fund a budget deficit.

“A realistic budget is an absolute priority for Russia’s economic policy,” First Deputy Prime Minister Anatoly B. Chubais was quoted as saying.