MOSCOW, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Russia's federal budget deficit widened to 5.88 trillion rubles (about 79.24 billion U.S. dollars) in the first four months of 2026, the Russian Ministry of Finance said Friday.
According to the ministry's preliminary assessment, the January-April deficit increased by 2.95 trillion rubles compared with the same period last year.
The deficit amounted to 2.5 percent of Russia's gross domestic product, compared with 1.4 percent in the same period of 2025.
The ministry attributed the higher deficit mainly to accelerated financing of expenditures at the beginning of this year. (1 Russian ruble = 0.013 U.S. dollar) ■
