The Russian federal budget deficit continues to grow rapidly. For example, in July it increased by 1.2 trillion rubles and after seven months amounted to 4.9 trillion rubles – and this is much more than was planned for the whole year (3.8 trillion rubles).

This is evidenced by a preliminary assessment by the Russian Ministry of Finance, The Moscow Times reports .

Revenues in July were reportedly 2.7 trillion rubles, but expenses were higher than usual: 3.9 trillion rubles after 3.2 trillion rubles in June.

According to economists, this is a lot, but the Russian Ministry of Finance assures that it is spending money on schedule : after the January surge, when spending was 64% higher than a year earlier, it slowed down and in the next six months was only 15% more than in February-July 2024.

In seven months, the Russian budget spent 25.2 trillion rubles, compared with a plan for the year of 42.3 trillion rubles, but the traditional December spending surge is ahead .

To get back on track, the Russian budget must generate a significant surplus in July-November: for this, the remaining spending must be even lower than last year. Given inflation, which is currently at 9% annualized, this reduction must be very significant. 

Over seven months, Russian budget expenditures increased by 20.8%, while revenues increased by only 2.8%, which in real terms (adjusted for price increases) is a decrease.

As reported, the Russian federal budget revenues from oil and gas in July 2025 amounted to 787.3 billion rubles, which is 28% less than last year. According to the Russian Ministry of Finance, the federal budget’s oil and gas revenues have lagged behind last year’s for the third month in a row .

The deficit of the Russian federal budget in the first half of 2025 amounted to 3.7 trillion rubles ($47 billion at the end of June exchange rate), or 1.7% of the country’s GDP. This is six times more than in the first half of 2024 (0.6 trillion rubles, or 0.3% of GDP).

In July, the Central Bank of Russia said that Russia faces another year of economic stagnation and Russians face “belt tightening.” Thus, the oil price forecast was lowered to $55 per barrel for Urals for 2025-2026. In the previous, April, version, it had already decreased from $65 to $60 per barrel.

Earlier, the head of the Russian Sberbank, German Gref, said that the problems in the Russian economy, which arose after a sharp increase in military spending, a surge in inflation, and an increase in the key rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, will not be solved quickly , and the next year, 2026, also “promises to be not the easiest.”

For her part, the head of the Central Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina, stated that the resources that allowed the Russian economy to show growth for two years in the face of a full-scale war against Ukraine and sanctions have been exhausted.

It has also become known that the Russian authorities are increasingly concerned that the “managed cooling” of the economy , as Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak called it, may become unmanageable – the Russian economy is slowing down sharply after two years of rapid growth.

Author:  Halyna Yalivets Джерело: https://censor.net/n3567547

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