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Western aid to Ukraine to last for only six months, Ukrainian Prime Minister says

Last year, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine passed the budget for 2024, which includes a deficit of $43.5 billion and state debt of over $220 billion, or 104.6% of GDP

MOSCOW, March 20. /TASS/. The financial aid, provided to Ukraine by Western states and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), will last for only the first half of this year, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal said in an interview for Bloomberg.

"Financially, we have IMF program, full-scale program from IMF for the four years, we have Ukraine Facility from European Union for the four years, we have support from other G7 and other countries, partner countries - Norway, Netherlands, Japan support us so much. And it let us survive in the first half of the year, second half of the year we count on the American support. So we will need this to cover our budget deficit," he said.

On November 9 last year, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine passed the budget for 2024, which includes a deficit of $43.5 billion and state debt of over $220 billion, or 104.6% of GDP. The Ukrainian authorities expect to cover most of the deficit via aid from Western allies. On December 20, 2023, the Ukrainian Ministry of Finance announced that Kiev’s request for external aid for 2024 will stand at $37.3 billion. Kiev has repeatedly stated that Ukraine will face a financial crisis without the financial support from the partners. The Ukrainian authorities still wait for the US House to pass a bill on financial aid to Kiev.

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