Page 78 - RusRPTOct22

“The consolidation came mostly on the back of a slowdown in spending,” he said. “If deficits continue at the current run rate, Russia will run a full-year shortfall of less than 3% of GDP, the narrowest in the G-20 except for Saudi Arabia.” The current budget, drafted before the war, calls for a surplus of 1.3 trillion rubles, but officials have said a deficit is likely given the conflict.
In the first eight months, revenues, which had surged earlier in the year thanks to high prices for oil and gas, showed signs of levelling out as Russia has suspended most of its gas shipments to Europe, its main market, and been forced by sanctions to sell crude at a discount.
Spending remains strong as the government seeks to cushion the impact of the economic slowdown that resulted from the US and European sanctions imposed over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russia has raked in €158bn ($158bn) in energy exports in the six months following its invasion of Ukraine, a think tank said on September 6. Fossil fuel exports have contributed approximately €43bn to Russia's federal budget since the start of the invasion. CREA estimated that the European Union was the top importer of Russian fossil fuel exporters, at €85.1bn. China followed at €34.9bn and Turkey at €10.7bn. The CREA said the EU ban on Russian coal imports has been effective that came into effect on August 10. After the ban went into effect Russian coal exports fell to their lowest levels since the war began.
New data on Russia's budget: Spending rose sharply in July while revenues fell slightly. The result is a deficit of RUB900bn ($14.7bn) in July. Some fluctuations are normal, just compare April and May spending, but the budget was still in surplus for the YTD despite the summer fall in income.
78 RUSSIA Country Report October 2022 www.intellinews.com