Russia’s Budget Deficit for Current Fiscal Year to Reach 3,9% GDP

Russia’s budget deficit in current fiscal year is expected to reach 3,9 percent of GDP, and will decrease in the following years, the Russian Analytical Credit Rating Agency (ACRA) said in a report on Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – According to forecast, the budget’s deficit in the fiscal year 2017 will stand at 3,1 percent and will keep further decreasing to reach 2,2 percent of GDP in 2018. In 2019, the budget deficit will stand at 1,5 percent, while in 2020, it will amount to 0,7 percent GDP, ACRA said in the report.

Nevertheless, the budget overall will be imbalanced up until 2020, according to the report.

In July, Russian government approved the primary budget planning for the following three years with figures close to ACRA’s forecast. ACRA made its assumptions based on oil prices standing at $40 per barrel.

At the same time, Ministry of Finance did not exclude that the deficit figures could be bigger than expected. The deficit gap is set to be re-funded from privatization, government’s internal and external borrowings, as well as reserves.