Russia's budget deficit widens as war costs keep rising
Previous forecasts by Russian analysts proved to be inaccurate (photo: Getty Images)
Russia's federal budget spending and deficit could exceed the current budget projections by more than 1 trillion rubles (about $13 billion), Reuters reports.
The reason for the revision was not explained on the Russian government's budget portal. Journalists concluded that it may be linked to increased spending on the war against Ukraine.
Last year, Russia's budget deficit exceeded the original forecast by nearly five times, reaching 5.7 trillion rubles (about $74 billion), or 2.6% of gross domestic product. It was the highest level since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
According to the new projections, Russia's federal spending in 2026 will total 45.11 trillion rubles (about $586 billion) instead of the 44.07 trillion rubles (about $573 billion) allocated in the budget.
According to Russia's Ministry of Finance, the budget deficit reached 5.73 trillion rubles (about $74.5 billion), or 2.5% of gross domestic product, during the first six months of 2026. This is 1.7 times higher than during the same period last year.
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov acknowledged that the budget deficit would be somewhat higher than the official forecast. At the same time, he continues to argue that this will not require a significant increase in government borrowing.
In addition, Russia's Ministry of Finance expects the budget deficit to remain above the planned level for at least another two years.
Against this backdrop, the Russian authorities have postponed their target of achieving a zero primary budget deficit until 2029.
Earlier, officials in President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office explained the mechanism behind the proposed United States "bone-crushing sanctions" against Russia.
Also, US President Donald Trump recently assessed the likelihood of the proposed "bone-crushing sanctions" against the aggressor state being adopted.
