From January to May 2022, Russia recorded a surplus of 1.59 trillion rubles, but large military expenditures, and a barrage of Western sanctions on its oil and gas exports, have hit government coffers since then.
Higher defense spending has kept Russia’s industrial sector booming, boosting expectations for economic growth this year.
The Finance Ministry stopped publishing monthly budget data last year, but based on Tuesday’s figures, Russia posted a surplus in May of 13 billion rubles ($159.8 million).
That compares with a deficit of 1 trillion rubles in April.
Monthly spending in May was the lowest this year, down 1.1 trillion rubles from April.
Meanwhile, non-oil revenues in the January-May period increased by 9.1 percent compared to the same period last year.
However, Moscow’s revenues from oil and gas declined 49.6 percent on an annual basis in the period from January to May, and the Ministry of Finance attributed this to the decline in the prices of the Urals oil mixture and the shrinking quantities of natural gas exports.
Preliminary data showed spending was 26.5 percent higher year-on-year in the period, while income fell 18.5 percent.
Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said Russia’s budget deficit this year would be no more than 2 percent of gross domestic product, although the International Monetary Fund expects Russia to see a bigger budget deficit this year.
The Finance Ministry said on Tuesday it expected an increase in tax revenues from the oil sector in the second half of the year.
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