Budget deficit is a fascinating thing. It can turn around economies if it’s large enough or it can highlight their resilience, if it turns out to be not as large as expected. The thing is, no government can be 100 percent certain in advance what budget deficit it will have to contend with in any future fiscal year. Russia is a case in point as it recently approved its 2017 budget, which envisages a deficit of 3.2 percent of GDP – a figure comparable to the United States’ 2.6 percent estimated for 2017. According to some analysts, however, such as Mauldin Economics’ Jacob Shapiro , this 3.2 percent is enough to make life difficult for Moscow over the next 12 months, which is why the Kremlin should hope for higher oil prices. In fact, Shapiro says Russia needs oil prices to be 30 percent higher just to break even. […]