Financial Risk Management of the Russian Economy during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The research objects are the tax and budgetary policies of the Russian Federation. In this research, financial (budgetary) risks are understood as a decrease in the balance of the state (national) budget resulting from a reduction in revenues or an increase in expenditures. This research considers production in the main sectors of the economy as a key factor of financial risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research aims to analyze the main directions of the budgetary and tax policy of the Russian Federation that aimed at supporting the economy and the population during the spread of COVID-19, which is especially relevant in connection with the expected recession in a number of sectors of the economy and a decrease in the level of employment and, accordingly, the well-being of citizens. In these conditions, it is necessary to adjust the budgetary and tax policy to preserve the state’s social obligations and expand social and economic support for businesses and citizens to smooth out the negative consequences of the impact of restrictive measures. The authors applied systemic and institutional approaches and statistical methods. The main results of the research reflect the need to (1) implement support measures (tax and budgetary incentives) for small and medium-sized enterprises, on which the crisis provoked by the COVID-19 pandemic has had the most destructive impact, and (2) to expand the volume of budgetary financing of social programs for financial risk management of the Russian economy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Compositionally, the article consists of the following sections: the introduction, which provides an overview of the publication activity in the field of financing measures to overcome the spread of COVID-19 and substantiates the relevance and purpose of the study; the literature review, which lists modern authors whose works were aimed at studying similar issues as well as the methodological apparatus used by them, which are suitable for adaptation; the section ‘materials and methods’, which provides more adaptive methods of other people’s research and the authors selected in accordance with them are listed; the results section, in which the authors present the main array of statistical data, which is then discussed. At the end of the article, the authors draw conclusions about the applied fiscal policy tools that can be used effectively in the new economic reality.