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Ukraine's budget deficit next year will reach 19.4% of GDP

The country's Finance Ministry reported earlier that Ukraine's national debt has grown by $3.2 bln in three months to $155.36 bln

MOSCOW, September 20. /TASS/. The Ukrainian budget deficit next year is planned at 19.4% of GDP, this year it reaches 20.6% of GDP, according to Verkhovna Rada deputy Irina Gerashchenko.

"The budget deficit will be 1.54 trillion hryvnia ($37.6 bln - TASS), or 19.4% of GDP (this year the deficit is 20.6% of GDP). Next year, Ukraine expects to attract 38.82 bln hryvnia (around $944 mln - TASS) from partners. Without donor support, our economy will not survive," she wrote in her Telegram channel.

At the same time, she noted that spending on the security and defense sector will amount to 26.3% of the country's projected GDP.

The country's Finance Ministry reported earlier that Ukraine's national debt has grown by $3.2 bln in three months to $155.36 bln. At the same time, the state and guaranteed external debt as of July 31 reached $112.92 bln, which is 72.69% of the total.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal said earlier that Ukraine will need an additional $15 bln in 2025 to cover its budget deficit. Shmygal added that Ukraine expects to solve this problem by receiving $50 bln from profits from frozen Russian assets in accounts in G7 countries. He also noted that Ukraine is facing an urgent need to find an additional 500 bln hryvnia (about $12.1 bln) by the end of 2024 to ensure its defense capability.

Shmygal clarified that 500 bln hryvnia are necessary expenditures specifically for defense and do not include funds needed to finance other needs of the state. He also said that since February 2022, Ukraine has received more than $100 bln from Western partners.

Ukraine has drawn up a budget with a record deficit for two years in a row, and expects to cover most of it with aid from Western partners. By 2024, it will amount to $43.9 bln. Meanwhile, in the West, the allocation of new aid packages occurs after lengthy discussions, and partners often warn that Kiev needs to intensify the search for sources of self-financing. The Ukrainian authorities are considering options for increasing taxes, as well as excise duties on fuel and tobacco.

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