Russia plans to tap fiscal reserves to balance 2025 budget, finance minister says

MOSCOW (Reuters) -The Russian government plans to tap its fiscal reserves for 447 billion roubles ($5.51 billion), or 14% of their remaining liquid assets, to balance the budget in 2025 after a threefold increase in the deficit, the finance minister said on Tuesday.

"Overall for the year based on forecast data from the Ministry of Economy, which we used as a basis for the federal budget adjustment, we expect to use 447 billion roubles from the National Wealth Fund," Anton Siluanov, the minister, told a news conference.

Siluanov said the government was not planning to increase its borrowing plans for this year.

The government would not be able to boost reserves in the next three-year budget cycle through a widely expected lowering of the so-called 'cut-off' in the oil price, above which windfall oil revenues flow into reserves, he added.

"In the projections for the next three-year budget, a change in the cut-off price will not be provided for," he said.

($1 = 81.1455 roubles)

(Reporting by Gleb Bryanski and Darya KorsunskayaEditing by Andrew Osborn)