Russia said it would no longer disclose monthly figures breaking down how much the government spent on various budget items including defense, even as it released data showing the ruble’s surge erased the benefits of higher crude prices for revenue. The Finance Ministry on Tuesday cited the need to “minimize the risk of the imposition of additional sanctions” for excluding expenditure details. The government and the central bank have suspended publication of a range of financial and economic data since the US and its allies hit the country with sweeping sanctions in the wake of the Kremlin’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine. The latest budget report still covered the other half of the ledger, indicating that tax revenues from oil and gas exports dropped by more than half in May from the previous month. A stronger ruble cuts into the budget because the government gets much of […]