In 2008 the Nizhny Novgorod region is to attract one billion rubles ($40m) in loans to cover municipal budget deficit, Svetlana Utrosina, the Head of Nizhny Novgorod Department of Finance and Taxation says.

The planned municipal budget deficit for 2008 is set at 2.3 billion rubles ($92m), which makes 15% of expenditure budget.

According to Ms. Utrosina, the city administration is expected to use municipal account balance to fill a 1.3 billion rubles ($52m) budget gap.

On October 17, 2007 the City Duma is to review the draft budget for 2008, where the budget expenditures are estimated at 14.8 billion rubles ($592m) while the budget revenues amount to 12.5 billion rubles ($500m).