Russia's budget deficit in Jan-May revised to 3.03 trln rubles from 3.4 trln rubles

MOSCOW. July 11 (Interfax) - Russia had a federal budget deficit of 3.029 trillion rubles in the first five months of 2023, according to revised data from the Federal Treasury, which was well below the Finance Ministry's preliminary estimate of 3.411 trillion rubles.

The deficit figure for the first four months of 2023 was previously revised downward to 3.049 trillion rubles from 3.424 trillion rubles. The new figures mean that there was a surplus of 20 billion rubles in May alone.

The estimate for the deficit in the first quarter of 2023 was also revised down to 2.086 trillion rubles from 2.4 trillion rubles, meaning the deficit in April alone was 963 billion rubles.

Treasury information also indicates that the spending figure for the year has been revised, so the deficit for 2023 has been as well. The budget law targets spending at 29.056 trillion rubles in 2023, but Treasury data show that current approved allocations total 29.896 trillion rubles for the while, while the revenue figure has remained unchanged at 26.130 trillion rubles. As a result, the current estimate for the deficit is 3.766 trillion rubles, up from the 2.925 trillion rubles targeted by the budget law.

Budget revenues, according to Treasury data, totalled 9.818 trillion rubles in the first five months of 2023, which was unchanged from the Finance Ministry estimate, while the spending estimate was revised down to 12.848 trillion rubles from 13.229 trillion rubles.