MOSCOW: Russia's federal budget deficit for the first half of this year stood at 2.59 trillion rubles ($28 billion ), the Ministry of Finance announces.

According to preliminary estimates released by the Ministry, revenues of the Russian budget in the first six months of 2023 amounted to 12.38 trillion rubles, down by 12 per cent year on year, reports Xinhua news agency.

Government spending in the January-June period was 14.97 trillion rubles, up by 19 per cent on a year-on-year basis.

Non-oil-and-gas revenues for the six-month period amounted to 8.99 trillion rubles, an increase of 17.8 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Revenues from oil and gas sales, meanwhile, decreased by 47 per cent to 3.38 trillion rubles, according to the Ministry.