The fall in oil and gas revenues in Russia amounts to billions of rubles a month: the situation is alarming

Economist Nikolaev said that the budget deficit is growing

The decline in Russian oil and gas revenues in June is projected at 44 billion rubles. A month ago, this minus amounted to 38.7 billion. The process is on the rise.

The Ministry of Finance believes that the fall in these revenues is due to a new decline in the price of Russian oil. The main export grade of our “black gold” – Urals – lost about 5.3 dollars per barrel.

Thus, our grades are sold at a price below the established “ceiling” of $60 per barrel.

As a result, in the first four months of this year, the federal budget deficit amounted to 3.42 trillion rubles. Since the beginning of this year, budget revenues have decreased by 22.4% in annual terms, while expenditures, on the contrary, have increased by 26.% compared to 2022.

– In general, these 44 billion rubles do not play a big role for our economy, – says Igor Nikolaev, chief researcher at the Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences. – Another thing is that the budget deficit is growing. For the five months of the year, data has not yet been published, but for the period January-April, the deficit amounted to 3.4 trillion, while for the whole year it is planned at 2.9 trillion.

Here, these 44 billion will go to the piggy bank of the budget deficit, which has long gone beyond the planned one, this is a component of its further increase. Everyone knows what a budget deficit is. When expenses are much more than income.

– How critical is this for our economy?

– This year, taking into account the National Welfare Fund and a certain stability, we will survive even in the face of such a growing deficit. But we need to think about 2024. The situation is troubling.