Russia's budget deficit will be around 1% of gross domestic product (GDP) this year, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Wednesday, marking the latest improvement in Russia's fiscal health as budget revenues increase. Higher oil prices and increased tax payments have helped the Russian government narrow its budget shortfall, which early this year was threatening to be far wider, with some economists expecting a deficit of as much as 5% of GDP. "Additional non-oil and gas revenues are coming in, the economy is working and growth rates allow us to talk about higher budget revenues," Siluanov said.
When preparing the draft law for the second reading, budget revenues were increased by Hr 22 billion ($610 million) to the total amount of Hr 1.77 trillion ($49 billion). The expenditures remained almost the same at Hr 3.35 trillion ($93 billion).
The tax sector collected an estimated 325.78 trillion VND (13.73 billion USD) for the State budget in the first two months of 2023, a year-on-year rise of 16.7%, and equivalent to 23.7% of the yearly estimate, the General Department of Taxation has reported.