"Populist mistake": Hetmantsev calls for abolition of "National Cashback"
The funding requirements for the "Affordable Loans at 5-7-9%" program and the expanded insurance against war risks amount to tens of billions of hryvnias. The necessary funding can be secured by optimizing and reallocating inefficient items in the state budget—in particular, by winding down the "National Cashback" program.
According to Censor.NET, this view was expressed by Danylo Hetmantsev, chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax, and Customs Policy, in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.
Where can we get tens of billions for business?
According to the member of parliament, the state budget includes up to 50 billion hryvnias for programs that the government is not actually using.
It has gotten to the point where, for one in five programs, the fund administrators have been unable—even throughout the entire first quarter—to complete the procedure and have the budget program specifications approved by the Ministry of Finance. The funds have been allocated, but they’re just sitting there. This is a huge problem in terms of spending efficiency," the MP noted.
Why is the "National Cashback" program ineffective?
Hetmantsev cited the government’s "National Cashback" program as a specific example of the inefficient use of resources. The lawmaker noted that he had spoken with business owners who oppose this initiative in favor of business lending.
Commenting on the arguments of former Economy Minister Oleksii Sobolev regarding the benefits of cashback, the chairman of the Tax Committee cited the following figures:
The impact of cashback on GDP growth is 0.10%—which is within the margin of statistical error. This was a populist mistake that must be abandoned, and the funds should be redirected toward the ‘5-7-9%’ loan program," he said.
He also criticized the fuel subsidy program, calling it absurd, and the "National Cashback" program ineffective.
"That was a mistake that needs to be abandoned. At the same time, there were also sound social decisions," he said.
