Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow spends 13.5 trillion rubles (about $172 million), or 6.3 percent of GDP, on military spending, and that it "plans to reduce" these expenses .
"Is it a lot or a little? I think it is a lot , and obviously it is one of the problems, including budgetary ones, that we have to solve," Putin said, according to Russian news agencies, claiming that Russia had "paid with inflation" for the increase in military spending.
“As for us, we are planning to reduce our defense spending,” Putin said, according to the Interfax agency. Russia claims that its GDP grew by 4.3% in 2024, but experts say this is artificially boosted by the increase in military spending linked to the invasion of Ukraine by Kremlin troops. And in the first quarter of this year, growth was 1.4%, the lowest figure in two years, according to France-Presse. Inflation in 2024, according to official data, reached 9.5% last year , well above the Russian government’s target of 4%.
Russian Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov said last week that Russia is “on the verge of a transition into recession” and that “everything depends on the decisions” on economic policy that will be made.
(Online Union)
