Moscow, Sept. 10 (Petra) -- Russia's federal budget deficit reached approximately $68 billion during the first eight months of the year, accounting for roughly 2.5% of gross domestic product, driven by elevated government spending, the Ministry of Finance announced on Thursday.

Total federal expenditure from January to August reached approximately $374 billion, marking a 14.7% increase year-on-year, the ministry said in a statement.

The acceleration in government spending was largely attributed to advance contracting procedures and the pre-financing of certain contractual obligations, according to the ministry.

//Petra// AF