Government net lending/borrowing in Russia

Measures the balance of Russia's federal budget: a deficit occurs when spending exceeds revenue, a surplus when the reverse holds. Published by the Ministry of Finance and usually expressed as a percentage of GDP.

Calculated as the gap between federal budget revenue and spending under the IMF government finance statistics framework, and expressed relative to GDP. Revenue is split between oil-and-gas and non-energy sources, with the non-oil balance tracked as an underlying gauge.

Russia's deficit is closely tied to oil-and-gas revenue and to the impact of sanctions. The war in Ukraine has driven up spending, with deficits covered by the National Wealth Fund and domestic debt. A deterioration pressures the rouble and fiscal policy.

It is a series prone to revision and to reduced transparency since 2022, with classified spending items. Heavy energy dependence adds volatility, and mechanisms such as the fiscal rule and the sovereign fund complicate reading the underlying balance.