The meeting discussed the issue of improving budget relations between the federal centre and the regions.
Mr Putin said that one of the main obstacles to effective relations between the budgets at different levels is the disparities in the amount of budget revenue in different parts of the country and the rate at which it comes in.
The President said that special programmes developed to overcome these disparities could be a partial solution to the problem. At the same time, Mr Putin called on the regions to be attentive to the need for more efficient financial management and to make better use of their own competitive advantages.