On December 26, the Duma specially convened a meeting to review the government's proposed 2004 Fiscal Expenditure Budget.
Gryzlov, Wang Ye, Kolov, and several other speakers sat upright on the dais.
The government's representative, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kudrin, stood at the lectern below the dais and first reported the nation's fiscal revenue and expenditures for 2003 to all Duma members.
Over the past year, the overall trend of national economic development had been positive, with relatively high GDP growth.
Of course, everyone merely listened to these past figures without paying them much attention. What mattered was next year's economic development.
Kudrin then outlined the government's expectations for national economic development next year. GDP growth, he believed, could remain at a relatively high level, and the national economy would improve further.
To alleviate the difficult circumstances faced by various agencies and departments, the fiscal expenditure budget for 2004 had been deliberately raised to three trillion Rubles!
At that figure, the previously quiet conference hall finally erupted into a buzz.
Many deputies began whispering among themselves, because they had not received this news beforehand.
Although Wang Ye and Gryzlov had already spoken with members of their respective factions before the meeting, and the Economic Committee had discussed the proposal several times,
there were still many members who did not know about it, nor did they need to.
After all, this proposal would not affect the deputies' personal interests. Under normal circumstances, they simply followed the wishes of their faction leaders, either raising their hands in support or voicing opposition.
After Kudrin finished his report, Wang Ye was the first to speak. He expressed approval of the government's outstanding work and said that he was also very optimistic about the nation's economic development next year, so there was absolutely no