After a dramatic start to the budget year with its huge deficit that scared analysts, the situation with income and expenses stabilized in March. Separately, a small surplus was recorded last month, which reduced the budget deficit accumulated in the first quarter to 2.4 trillion rubles. Expenses after large-scale advances at the beginning of the year entered a normal rhythm, and revenues (with the exception of non-oil and gas) though did not grow, but at least stabilized. Further, both the created “stash” and external circumstances can help the budget: more expensive oil, a weakening ruble, a new way of calculating oil taxes, a one-time fee from large businesses, unallocated reserves and a “saved” transfer to the Social Fund.