Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin on...

"After a four-fold increase in budget spending, we"ll have a ten-year period without expenditure growth," Kudrin said.

Russia is planning to resort to foreign borrowings this year for the first time after the 1998 default as the government expects the budget deficit to hit 6.8% of GDP in 2010.

Russia, which continues to receive a larger part of its revenues from raw materials exports and was hit hard by the 2008 global financial and economic crisis, needs to balance its finances as its reserve fund, set up in previous years to accrue surplus oil revenues may be completely used up this year.

Even though Russia started to exit recession from the third quarter of 2009, investors still view pessimistically the prospects of the Russian economy.

According to estimates of the Russian Central Bank, net capital outflow from Russia hit $12.9 billion in the first quarter of 2010.

MOSCOW, April 6 (RIA Novosti)