The Ministry of Finance intends to increase the amount of public debt – Kommersant

The Ministry of Finance plans to increase the amount of public debt “in the current situation”, but wants to remain within the established 20% of GDP, said Irina Okladnikova, deputy head of the department. She announced the department’s plans at a meeting of the Federation Council Committee on Budget and Financial Markets.

According to the Deputy Minister, now the level of debt is 22.8 trillion rubles. is 14.9% of GDP. “This is our safe border for now, although we understand that in the current situation we will increase (volume.— “b”) and we will have to do this, because our expenditures are growing,” said Okladnikova (quoted by RIA Novosti).

She argues that funds are needed to support the economy. She called 20% of GDP a “safe boundary” for increasing public debt. “We must support the military bloc, and our four new regions need significant support. Therefore, we will increase the debt, but we will try to stay within safe boundaries,” added Irina Okladnikova.

In the first half of the year, the budget deficit of the Russian Federation amounted to almost 2.6 trillion rubles. In June, the indicator decreased by 816 billion rubles, the Ministry of Finance reported. Treasury revenues for six months amounted to almost 12.4 trillion rubles, expenses – a little less than 15 trillion rubles. Compared to the same period in 2022, the indicators deteriorated by 12% and 19%, respectively.

Details – in the material “Kommersant FM” “Deficiency reduced in volume”.

Laura Keffer