Abstract:The new “May Act” signed by Putin after his re-election has determined the main goals of Russia's reforms in the coming period, which is improving the living quality and well-being of citizens and eradicating poverty and inequality. Guided by these goals, Russia has introduced a series of structural reform measures in fiscal taxation and monetary fields in the past two years. In the field of fiscal taxation, new budget rules have been set up to increase fiscal revenue while strictly controlling expenditures. Fiscal surpluses have been achieved in 2018, and national reserves have been refilled. Tax reforms have been closely coordinated to the fiscal reform, such as increasing the tax rate on mineral resources mining while reducing the export tariff rate of oil in order to weaken the impact of energy prices and changes in the exchange rate of the Ruble on the state's fiscal revenue. In the monetary field, Russia continued to implement inflation targeting based on the interest rate management. However, because of some internal and external factors, it failed to keep the target of 4% in 2018. The new budget regulations also provided an important means for the central bank to balance international accounts and fight inflation. A number of reform measures that have not yet been implemented, such as raising the VAT rate and delaying retirement, have produced some socioeconomic effects, which was reflected in the operation of Russia's fiscal and financial system in 2018. The increase in the VAT rate has raised public concerns about future consumer price, which has boosted the inflation expectations. Delayed retirement could increase the amount of future pension payments, but it has also increased the current workload. All in all, large-scale reforms have been brewing in Russia's fiscal taxation and monetary fields, and these policies need to be tested in a longer period of time.
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