Russia’s budget deficit for the first four months of the year has exceeded the government’s entire 2023 target. The combination of increased wartime expenditures and declining energy revenues have continued to impact the state budget.
According to figures released by the Finance Ministry on Wednesday, the federal budget deficit reached 3.42 trillion rubles ($45 billion) from January to April 2023. Revenues experienced a 22% decline, amounting to 7.8 trillion rubles, while spending rose by 26% to 11.2 trillion rubles compared to the same period last year.
Russia had originally projected a budget deficit of 2.9 trillion rubles ($43 billion) for 2023, with a significant portion of state expenditures dedicated to defense and security, estimated to be at least one-third of the total spending.
The Finance Ministry, which had ceased publishing monthly budget figures last year, estimates April’s budget deficit at approximately 1 trillion rubles ($13 billion), according to calculations by Reuters.
From January to April, Russia experienced a 52% decline in oil and gas revenues, amounting to 2.3 trillion rubles ($30 billion). However, non-oil and gas revenues saw a 5% increase, reaching 5.5 trillion rubles ($72 billion).
In 2022, Russia’s total budget deficit stood at 3.3 trillion rubles ($47 billion), equivalent to 2.3% of its GDP. This marked the second-largest deficit in modern Russian history.
Government spending in 2022 surpassed the pre-war forecast by more than a third and exceeded the amount spent in 2021 by over a quarter, totaling 31.11 trillion rubles.
Last year’s budget deficit was only surpassed by the deficit recorded in 2020 during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic.