Russia plans record defense budget for 2027

Russia plans to spend 17.1 trillion rubles ($202 billion) on defense in 2027, Reuters reported Monday (local time).

The figure would be the highest since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Russia approved defense spending of 12.93 trillion rubles for this year last November, meaning next year's budget represents an increase of about 30 percent.

The fiscal deficit forecast for this year has widened from 1.6 percent of GDP to 3.2 percent.

Revenue projections from oil and gas have been revised down from 8.9 trillion rubles to 7.6 trillion rubles.

The national debt ratio is expected to rise from 19.9 percent of GDP in 2026 to 21.7 percent in 2027, surpassing the 20 percent threshold the government considers safe.

The Russian government plans to submit next year's budget to parliament by Thursday.

The Russian government recently announced plans to raise taxes next year to cover its growing fiscal deficit. Among the measures, it intends to impose a new windfall tax on metals and mining companies to generate about 200 billion rubles in annual revenue.