Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov indicated that the country's budget revenues from non-oil and gas sources will exceed the planned amount by around one trillion rubles (approximately $10.99 billion) this year. Moscow anticipates more divestiture deals involving foreign companies.
In an interview with TASS on Monday, Siluanov stated, "The volume of non-oil and gas revenues is more than planned. According to estimates, it will increase by one trillion rubles due to higher value-added tax and sales taxes on intermediate and capital goods and a one-time tax on extraordinary corporate profits."
He also noted that the ministry is open to increasing the proportion of funds that go to the Russian budget from deals involving the divestiture of foreign companies. Siluanov mentioned that the Russian economy is expected to grow by more than two percent this year, and the federal budget deficit will range between two percent and 2.5 percent of the gross domestic product.
He identified the recent decline of the Russian ruble as a result of the country’s trade balance, emphasizing that the ability to predict the exchange rate is very important for the ministry. Russia recorded a deficit of approximately $28 billion in the first half of the year, due to increased military spending and a 47 percent decline in energy revenues year-on-year. The planned non-energy-related revenues for 2023 stand at 17.19 trillion rubles.
