KYIV. Oct 23 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Russian government spending is increasingly focused on the costs of the war with Ukraine, with the proposed 2024 state budget calling for an increase in planned defense spending of about 68% over those planned for 2023, putting defense spending for 2024 at around 6% of GDP.
As noted in the report of the Ministry of Defense of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, published on the X social network on Monday morning, spending on education and healthcare spending will be frozen at the 2023 allocation, which amounts to a real term spending cut due to inflation.
“More spending will need to be allocated to fund payments and healthcare costs for the mounting numbers of wounded soldiers and the families of those killed in the conflict. More than half of those soldiers wounded severely enough to require longer term medical care have lost limbs, with one in five requiring upper limb amputations… These injured soldiers will almost certainly require lifelong healthcare,” the intelligence said.
According to the British intelligence, consistently heightened military spending will highly likely contribute to inflationary pressures within Russia.
“Furthermore, continued increases in military spending would force the Russian government to make difficult decisions about how to fund the war, likely increasing financial pressures on Russian businesses. However, any substantial future reduction in military expenditure would likely remove an increasingly central driver of Russian economic activity in the face of sanctions,” the intelligence said.