Russian budget deficit for January-May was 1.5% of GDP

(Reuters) -Russia ran a budget deficit of 3.4 trillion roubles ($43.3 billion), or 1.5% of gross domestic product, for the first five months of the year, the finance ministry said on Tuesday, citing preliminary data.

The budget shortfall was almost five times as wide as in the same period of 2024, when Russia ran a deficit of 730.4 billion roubles, or 0.4% of GDP.

The ministry said the deficit was mainly caused by advance payments to finance budget spending in January and a decrease in oil and gas revenue amid lower prices for oil, Russia's main export commodity.

Russia raised the 2025 budget deficit estimate to 1.7% of gross domestic product in April from 0.5% after reducing the energy revenue forecast by 24%, expecting a prolonged period of low oil prices.

State spending on national defence was hiked by a quarter in 2025 to 6.3% of GDP, the highest since the Cold War, as the country continued its war in Ukraine, now in its fourth year.

The government is planning to tap its fiscal reserves for 447 billion roubles ($5.51 billion), or about one-tenth of its liquid assets, to balance the budget in 2025

Spending in the first five months was 20.7% higher than in the same period of 2024, the ministry's data showed. Revenues for the period were 3.1% higher than a year ago.

The Finance Ministry is planning another revision of the budget in autumn.

($1 = 78.5000 roubles)

(Reporting by Darya Korsunskaya; Writing by Alexander Marrow and Gleb Bryanski; Editing by Mark Trevelyan and Bernadette Baum)