He said budget revenues would increase by 1.4 trillion rubles ($56 bln) year on year, while expenditures would rise by 313.3 billion rubles ($12.5 bln).

The federal budget posted an estimated surplus of 1.78 trillion rubles ($72.7 billion) in 2007, compared with 1.99 trillion rubles ($81.3 billion) in 2006, the Finance Ministry said in mid-January.

The budget surplus stood at 5.9% of GDP in 2007, the ministry said.

Russia's Stabilization Fund, established to take in revenues from oil and gas exports and absorb excessive liquidity, stood at 3.85 trillion rubles ($157 billion) as of January 1, 2008, compared to 2.35 trillion rubles ($89.1 billion) a year earlier.