Support The Moscow Times!

Finance Ministry Records $9.2Bln Budget Deficit For 2013

Russia ran a budget deficit last year of 310 billion rubles ($9.2 billion), the Finance Ministry said in preliminary data for 2013, news agency Prime reported.

The figure amounts to about 0.5 percent of the country's gross domestic product and is slightly lower than the Finance Ministry's latest prediction of 0.9 percent of GDP for the 2013 shortfall, according to the information released late on Monday.

Rising oil prices and rapid economic growth allowed Russia to record a budget surplus for much of the 2000s, but sputtering economic growth last year has led to smaller revenues and changes to long-term fiscal planning.

According to the budget signed into law last year by President Vladimir Putin, Russia is expected to record a budget deficit of 391 billion rubles ($12 billion) this year and 817 billion rubles ($25 billion) in 2015.

Russia's total income last year was 13.02 trillion rubles ($386 billion), the Finance Ministry said.

… we have a small favor to ask.

As you may have heard, The Moscow Times, an independent news source for over 30 years, has been unjustly branded as a "foreign agent" by the Russian government. This blatant attempt to silence our voice is a direct assault on the integrity of journalism and the values we hold dear.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. Our commitment to providing accurate and unbiased reporting on Russia remains unshaken. But we need your help to continue our critical mission.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just 2. It's quick to set up, and you can be confident that you're making a significant impact every month by supporting open, independent journalism. Thank you.

Continue

Read more