Anastasia Pechenyuk17:05, 22.09.23

Defense spending will exceed the social spending of the aggressor country, the draft budget shows.

Russia plans a huge increase in defense spending in 2024. They will amount to 6% of the country’s gross domestic product, Bloomberg reports , citing the draft budget of the Russian Federation. 

Consequently, according to the draft budget that the Russian government is due to discuss soon, defense spending will rise to 10.8 trillion rubles ($112 billion) in 2024. This year they amounted to 6.4 trillion rubles. The projected defense budget will be three times larger than it was in 2021 (3.6 trillion rubles).

The draft budget forecasts total spending in 2024 at 36.6 trillion rubles, which is 15% more than this year. At the same time, expenditures on secret or unspecified items are growing from 6.5 trillion in 2023 to 11.1 trillion rubles, and already account for 30% of total budget expenditures. Expenditures on social policy in 2024 are planned to increase from 6.5 to 7.5 trillion rubles. 

“The dynamics of Russia’s military budget indicate a change in government priorities amid fighting that is causing significant financial losses with no end in sight. Defense spending is projected to exceed social spending next year, even as the Kremlin prepares for presidential elections in March, and the fact that the economy is under pressure from unprecedented international sanctions,” Bloomberg emphasizes.

In general, the Russian Federation expects revenues of more than 35 trillion rubles, which is 22% more than in 2023, and an increase in oil and gas revenues by a quarter (up to 11.5 trillion rubles).

(C)UNIAN 2023