Due to a sharp decline in oil and gas revenues and a steady increase in expenses, the Russian government is preparing to make changes to the budget for the second time in a year. About this reported the The Moscow Times.
In the spring, the Russian Ministry of Finance has already reduced the revenue plan by 1,8 trillion rubles ($20 billion), and on the contrary, increased expenses by 800 billion rubles ($8,9 billion). This led to the fact that the projected budget deficit increased threefold - to 3,8 trillion rubles ($42 billion) or 1,7% of GDP. However, experts believe that even these limits will not be met.
The government is currently updating the macro forecast and preparing a three-year budget. Amendments to the current budget are planned to be made by September 30, simultaneously with the submission of the new budget version to the State Duma.
Although the specific parameters of the changes have not yet been announced, analysts are confident that the "hole" in the budget will only grow. In January-July 2025, revenues from raw materials fell by almost 20% compared to last year and have been declining for the third month in a row - by 30% year-on-year.
Previous changes increased total budget expenditures to 42,3 trillion rubles ($470 billion), but now the “electronic budget” system already shows a figure of 42,9 trillion rubles ($477 billion). According to estimates by RANEPA analyst Vladimir Eremkin, the deficit could grow to 6–9 trillion rubles ($67–100 billion) by the end of the year.
