Russia's budget deficit reached 3.69 trillion roubles ($46.89 billion), or 1.7% of gross domestic product (GDP), in the first half of the year, the same as expected for the full year, the finance ministry said.
The deficit for the first half of the year was higher than in the first five months of 2025, when it stood at 1.5% of GDP. In the first half of 2024 the deficit stood at 0.3% of GDP.
The ministry said that fiscal spending in the first half grew by 20.2% while revenues increased by only 2.8%. Russia's energy revenues fell by 17% compared to the same period last year.
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, or about one-tenth of its liquid assets, to balance the budget in 2025. The Finance Ministry is planning another revision of the budget in autumn.
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Start your day informed with the AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top stories for 30 June, covering the latest developments you need to know.
Russian attacks on three major Ukrainian cities killed 10 people and wounded dozens on Monday, authorities said, with strikes continuing into the afternoon as the death toll climbed.
A coalition of Georgian former ministers, diplomats and security experts has issued an urgent warning to the international community: Russia is not merely occupying Georgia's breakaway regions - it is absorbing them, and the window for a meaningful response is rapidly closing.
Fourteen people were killed on Sunday after a helicopter belonging to Saudi oil giant Aramco crashed in Ras Tanura, according to Saudi state media.
Rescue teams raced on Sunday to find more survivors of the two powerful earthquakes that struck Venezuela this week, with signs of life bringing occasional relief to a grim quest to whittle down a list of tens of thousands missing.
Eleven people were killed when a small plane carrying skydivers crashed near Nancy in eastern France on Sunday, local officials said.
The United States and Iran have agreed to halt strikes against each other, in a potential breakthrough after weeks of escalating tensions. The two sides are expected to meet in Doha on Tuesday to address their dispute over the Strait of Hormuz.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the country is going through a “difficult period”, but has learned much from it, according to state news agency TASS.
Türkiye’s electronic communications investments hit a record 263 billion lira ($5.6 billion) in the first quarter, marking a 1,300% year-on-year surge driven by 5G auction fees and rollout, according to Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu.
WhatsApp is allowing users to reserve a username as an alternative to exchanging phone numbers to chat on the messaging service.
China has expanded export controls against 40 Japanese companies and institutions, adding 20 entities to its export control list and placing another 20 under heightened scrutiny in a move targeting Japan's defence and industrial sectors.
Apple is facing a £3 billion lawsuit in the United Kingdom after a competition tribunal approved a major collective action over its iCloud storage service.
China has opened its market to cashew nuts from all African countries with diplomatic relations with Beijing, removing a long-standing barrier that had restricted exports from much of the world's largest cashew-producing continent.
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