Factors of differentiating the debt situation in Russian urban districts with population of over 100 000 in 2015–2020

Abstract

The article presents an analysis of debt situation in 189 urban districts of Russia with a population of more than 100 thousand people and factors determining the differences in the debt situation between them. The study was conducted using indicators on the volume and structure of municipal debt contained on the official websites of local administrations, as well as information on revenues and expenditures of local budgets from the Database of Municipalities of Federal State Statistics Service. The results showed that the debt burden is higher in urban districts with larger population: the worst debt situation is typical for billion-cities and other major regional centers. At the same time, there is no obvious dependence of debt indicators on the fiscal situation and the level of economic development – it is disrupted by the impact of other institutional conditions, including specifics of federal and regional budget policy, social assistance of located large businesses and other reasons. Analysis of objectives of municipal loan has shown that only in very rare cases the debt is taken by urban districts with population over 100 000 for the implementation of urban development projects. The municipal bond market, which is widely developed abroad, as well as other new mechanisms for reducing the debt burden of municipalities in Russia are not developing. All stated conclusions form a negative forecast of the budgetary situation in the largest centers for the coming years and once again proves the urgent need to revise the fiscal policy and the system of distribution of powers at the local level in the country.