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Russia plans to spend 17.1 trillion rubles ($202.58 billion) on defense in 2027, around 27% more than the 13.5 trillion rubles originally budgeted and the highest figure since the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022, government documents seen by Reuters showed on Monday.
Total defense spending will amount to 50 trillion rubles in the next three years, according to the documents. In 2026 the government planned to spend 12.1 trillion rubles on defense but the actual amount is classified and will not be disclosed. Some military spending can also be accounted for in other parts of the budget.
The documents also showed the government raised its estimate for its 2026 budget deficit to 3.2% of gross domestic product, from 1.6% of GDP previously. Budget spending in 2026 will increase by 13.2% to 48.6 trillion rubles or 20.9% of GDP.
The government is expected to submit the draft budget to parliament by Oct. 1. Last week, it announced plans for new tax hikes in 2027 to finance the growing deficit. The documents showed that a new windfall tax on metals and mining companies was expected to raise about 200 billion rubles annually.
The documents showed that in 2026 the government will increase its net borrowing plan by 26% to 5 trillion rubles and spend 459 billion rubles — about 11% of the liquid part of its National Wealth Fund — to reduce the deficit. It also cut the oil and gas revenue estimate for 2026 to 7.6 trillion rubles from 8.9 trillion rubles previously.
The documents showed that state debt is set to rise to 21.7% of GDP in 2027 from 19.9% of GDP in 2026, above the 20% level seen by the authorities as safe. Total borrowing in 2027 will increase by 43% to 7.7 trillion rubles. A Message from The Moscow Times:
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Russia plans to spend 17.1 trillion rubles ($202.58 billion) on defense in 2027, around 27% more than the 13.5 trillion rubles originally budgeted and the highest figure since the start of the war in…