Due to a sharp decline in oil and gas revenues and bloated military spending, the Russian government will have to make changes to the federal budget for 2025 within a year.

A representative of the Russian Ministry of Finance told the Russian newspaper Vedomosti about this, The Moscow Times reports .

He clarified that the Russian government is currently preparing a budget plan for the next three years and updating the economic forecast. According to him, along with submitting these documents for consideration by the State Duma (this must be done by September 30), the government will simultaneously make new amendments to the budget for the current year.

The Russian Finance Ministry representative did not specify what exactly these amendments will entail. However, Russian experts are convinced that the Russian government will have to increase the budget deficit for the second time since the beginning of the year due to the economic slowdown and the drop in oil and gas revenues, which in recent months has reached 30% compared to last year’s levels.

At the same time, federal budget expenditures in the context of the war against Ukraine exceed the planned ones, even taking into account recent changes. In particular, Gazprombank assumes an excess of the expenditure plan by 2-4 trillion rubles, and analysts of the Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPED) of the RANEPA – by 3-5 trillion rubles.

Therefore, according to IPED estimates, by the end of the year, the federal budget deficit may increase to 6-9 trillion rubles from the currently planned 3.8 trillion rubles.

At the same time, economists at the Russian bank VTB predict that the federal budget deficit of the Russian Federation will amount to about 5 trillion rubles by the end of the year, and experts at the analytical center TsMAKP close to the government suggest that it could be even larger. MMI analysts predict a deficit of 8 trillion rubles.

As reported, in late June, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin approved changes to the Russian federal budget for 2025 , which provide for a sharp reduction in the plan for oil and gas revenues and the sequestration of funding for key projects to support the economy.

The Central Bank of Russia previously said that oil prices are likely to remain low for a long time, and called on the Russian government to prepare a budget for this . Джерело: https://censor.net/n3567300

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