The fiscal outlook facing the Russian government is markedly more dire than the same point of last year.

The Kremlin reported a budget deficit of 1.76 billion rubles ($25 billion) for January – the widest such gap since 1998, when the country was in the throes of its post-Soviet economic meltdown. Russia reported a 2.3% deficit for 2022, and this number is expected to increase in the year ahead, with some expectations of it hitting the 6% mark by the end of 2023.