Moscow is currently spending 37 percent of the budget for the war in Ukraine and is projected to spend 45 percent by the end of 2023, a figure that will make it almost impossible to prevent a further decline of the ruble and a collapse of public confidence in the future of the civilian economy, experts with whom Novaya Gazeta spoke say.
While military expenditures have boosted the growth of Russia’s GDP over the last two years, the fact that these are being financed at the expense of spending on civilian goods and by increasing debt create a serious problem, these experts say. The government is unlikely to be able to pay off the debt except by printing more money and sparking inflation.
Thus, people who are owed money will get it back only in currency that is worth less than it was, and because that is already obvious, they are increasingly unwilling to support increases in…
