Russia Budget Deficit Hits All-Time High
Riding the waves of high levels of sanctions, the Russian Federal Government recorded a budget deficit of RUB 2.361 trillion in the first eight months of 2023. According to records, this is the widest on record, swinging from a surplus of RUB 291 billion from the corresponding period of the previous year.
The federation has been hit hard and fast with economic-related sanctions that could potentially cripple the economy except that Moscow has built walls of defence to safeguard itself from Western countries onslaught.
Revenues dropped by 3.5% to RUB 16.99 trillion, as sanctions against Russia’s energy sales and a slowing Chinese economy drove essential oil and gas revenues to plunge by 38.2% to RUB 4.386 trillion.
Limiting the blows to revenues, increased value-added taxes for importers and exporters increased taxation revenues by 24.2%, pinning an also 24.2% rise in non-energy revenues to RUB 12.155 trillion. In the meantime, government expenses soared by 11.8% to RUB 19.351 trillion as Moscow finances its prolonged invasion of Ukraine.
The results continued to underscore the unsustainable developments that pressure the state’s fiscal side, forcing the Kremlin to raise borrowing through bonds and squeeze its rainy-day National Welfare Fund. #Russia Budget Deficit Hits All-Time High
