Defense costs are rising, debt is growing: what's behind Russia's 2027–2029 budget? The state's fiscal year ends on December 31st. The plant's doesn't: an advance payment might arrive one year, and the aircraft might be delivered to the military the next. The government debt has its own schedule—interest on bonds is paid on set dates. The budget must take both schedules into account. Therefore, the 2027–2029 project should be assessed not only by the amounts but also by the terms of the obligations. In my opinion, the cost of servicing the public debt, rather than the size of the national debt itself, is becoming an increasingly stringent constraint on new defense programs. Interest payments are projected to grow faster than federal spending and will take up ever more space in future years' budgets. This... Read more>>>