Washington, 3 October 1996 (RFE/RL) -- Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Alexandr Livshits says that at least 90 percent of the wage arrears owed to the military are covered by the government's proposed budget for the next year.
Livshits told a press conference at the Russian embassy in Washington yesterday that even if the government's total revenues fall short of budget expectations, there are ways to "make some adjustments within the budget."
But he said, to do that, the parliament must first pass the budget so the government has an official document to work from.
Livshits said the government does not intend to exceed the overall deficit figure, but that there are ways that various programs could be shuffled to make sure the military wage arrears can be paid.
He estimated those arrears amount to around 10 trillion rubles.
Livshits is in Washington as part of the Russian delegation to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank meetings.