The Ministry of Finance of Russia announced that the budget deficit amounted to 3.69 trillion rubles ($ 46.89 billion), which is equivalent to 1.7 percent of GDP over the first half of the year, which is the same target level throughout the year 2025.
The deficit in the first half of the year recorded an increase compared to the first five months of 2025, since the deficit at that time was 1.5 percent of GDP, while the deficit reached 0.3 percent of GDP in the first half of 2024, according to Reuters.
The Ministry indicated that financial expenses increased by 20.2 percent in the first half, while income increased only by 2.8 percent. The income of the Russian energy sector also decreased by 17 percent compared to the same period of the previous year.
In April, Russia increased its forecast for the budget deficit from 2025 to 1.7 percent of GDP, and not 0.5 percent earlier, after 24 percent revenue assessments, which, as expected, will continue to fall oil for a long period.
Government expenses for national defense recorded a significant increase by about 25 percent in 2025, reaching 6.3 percent of GDP, which is the highest since the Cold War era, in the light of the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine, which entered the fourth year.
According to the government plan, Russia withdraws 447 billion rubles from its financial reserves, that is, about ten liquid assets in order to achieve a balance in the budget within 2025. The Ministry of Finance intends to conduct a new budget overview next fall.
