Since April, Russian authorities have imposed a strict austerity regime, cutting financing for budget items unrelated to the war, salaries of state employees and military personnel, social programs, and public debt servicing by 35%, Bloomberg reported, citing sources close to the government.
Federal agencies have been instructed to postpone all non-essential spending and prepare for a 15% staff reduction, the agency's interlocutors said.
The austerity regime was introduced after Finance Minister Anton Siluanov warned Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin that the state would not have enough money to make all payments on time. The balance on the unified treasury account then fell to minus 5.5 trillion rubles. Former Deputy Finance Minister Oleg Vyugin noted that a negative balance on the account is rare: previously, the state kept positive balances to finance spending without disruptions.
Liquidity problems have been observed since the beginning of the year and peaked in April, despite high oil prices, the agency noted. The savings helped contain the jump in the deficit: according to Bloomberg, the Finance Ministry's internal calculations showed it could reach 9 trillion rubles by the end of June.
The federal budget deficit has already reached 6.5 trillion rubles, or 2.8% of GDP, against a planned annual figure of 1.6% of GDP. According to data from the Electronic Budget system, as of August 24, the current deficit reached 8.654 trillion rubles — this amount does not include August taxes, which will be received at the end of the month. According to the government's latest estimates, by the end of the year the deficit will be 3.2–3.8% of GDP and in monetary terms will reach about 9 trillion rubles.
In June, Russia adopted amendments allowing the government to increase spending without parliamentary approval. A few days ago, Siluanov said that the budget has "no problems."
Bloomberg's sources consider the situation difficult but not critical. In their assessment, the Russian budget will be able to finance the war for several more years. The government and the Finance Ministry did not respond to the agency's requests.