MOSCOW, Jan 19 (Reuters) – Russia ran a budget deficit of 5.6 trillion roubles ($72.12 billion), or 2.6% of GDP, in 2025, the Finance Ministry said on Monday, the highest deficit since 2020 as a percentage of GDP and the highest since 2006 in rouble terms.<\/p>\n
Russia had a fiscal deficit equal to 1.7% of GDP in 2024. In 2025, the government raised the deficit target twice from the initially targeted 1.2 trillion roubles, or 0.5% of GDP, due to shrinking energy revenues and a strong rouble.<\/p>\n
Sign up here.<\/a><\/p>\n Budget revenues amounted to 37.28 trillion roubles, down by 7.5% from the initial target, due to a 24% fall in oil and gas revenues, which hit the lowest level since 2020, despite corporate profit and personal income tax hikes.<\/p>\n Budget spending, which amounted to 42.93 trillion roubles, rose 6.8% from 2024 and was 3.5% higher than the initial budget plan.<\/p>\n The government raised the value-added tax to keep this year’s deficit at 1.6% of GDP, but with prices for Russian oil below the 2026 average of $59 per barrel used in the budget calculations, analysts doubt the government’s ability to stay on target.<\/p>\n ($1 = 77.6455 roubles)<\/p>\n Reporting by Darya Korsunskaya; Writing by Gleb Bryanski; Editing by Susan Fenton<\/p>\n Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab<\/a><\/p>\n