The Russian Ministry of Finance is increasing the volume of domestic borrowing amid a rapid rise in military spending and a deepening federal budget deficit. This is reported by the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, according to UNN.
Details
In the first half of 2026, Russia’s military spending increased by 30% year on year. At the same time, in January-July, the federal budget deficit grew by 40% compared with the same period of the previous year.
Against this backdrop, on September 2, the Russian Ministry of Finance resumed large-scale placement of federal loan bonds (OFZs), which had in fact not been conducted since mid-July. During the auction, government bonds with a nominal value of USD 11.55 billion were placed. As a result, USD 10.84 billion was raised for the federal budget
In addition, the Russian central bank expanded its support for Russia’s banking system.
The regulator provided banks with USD 10.84 billion against securities as collateral-a sum comparable to the amount raised by the Russian Ministry of Finance through the placement of OFZs. This situation indicates the growing dependence of deficit financing on the ability of the Russian central bank to maintain the liquidity of the banking system and ensure demand for government debt securities
The intelligence service also added that by the end of the year, to cover part of the additional budget expenditures, the Russian Ministry of Finance will likely have to raise another USD 23.1-34.6 billion.
We remind you
Russia has faced problems with exports of grain from the new harvest. In August, its shipments fell 2.5-fold, while in September wheat exports may drop by more than half again.