Ukraine spends almost entire peacetime state budget on army, - Shmyhal
Ukraine currently spends almost the entire peacetime state budget on the army. The budget deficit last year amounted to about $31 billion.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said this during a conversation with foreign journalists, Censor.NET reports with reference to Ukrinform.
"Today, we spend almost the entire peacetime budget of the country on the army. At the same time, the social and humanitarian component is financed with the support of our partners, to whom Ukraine is very grateful. We thank the European Commission for allocating 18 billion euros of macro-financial support for 2023. The United States will provide Ukraine with more than 10 billion dollars, other G7 countries are also directing funds for direct budget support. Ukraine is actively working with the IMF. We have completed the review of the Monitoring Program and started working on a large four-year program," said the Prime Minister.
According to him, the deficit of the state budget last year amounted to about 31 billion dollars. "We received these funds from our partners. Mainly from EU countries, G7 and the USA and from international financial institutions, in particular from the IMF. During the year of the war, Ukraine lost more than 30% of its GDP. Therefore, the budget deficit currently amounts to 38 billion dollars.", — he added.
According to the Prime Minister, the deficit also arises due to the increase in spending on the security and defense sector.
He also emphasized the rapid recovery of Ukraine. "We need an additional 17 billion dollars for the so-called rapid recovery. In this direction, we are working together with our partners and have good prospects," the prime minister emphasized.
Shmyhal outlined the government's four priorities for recovery.
"The first is the restoration of energy. Without it, it is impossible to talk about other social or humanitarian projects. The second is humanitarian demining. Ukraine is one of the most mine-contaminated countries in the world. We need to demine 174 thousand square km. The third priority is the restoration of critical infrastructure and damaged housing for people to live in their native places. The fourth priority is economic recovery.
Due to the full-scale invasion, Ukrainians lost more than 3 million jobs. Large mining and metalworking enterprises in the east of Ukraine were destroyed or occupied. Therefore, the state emphasizes the development of micro-business, small and medium-sized enterprises. To do this, we are launching support grant programs and soft loan programs," he said.
