EU may cover half of Ukraine’s budget deficit in 2023

Kyiv: Almost half of Ukraine’s budget deficit next year will be covered by EU funds, Ukrainian Deputy Finance Minister Olga Zykova said on Monday.
“Almost half of the state budget deficit will be covered by EU funds,” Zykova said on air during the all-Ukrainian telethon.
The Ukrainian cabinet approved the 2023 draft budget with a deficit of 20% of GDP in September. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal stated that the draft envisaged 1.28 trillion hryvnia ($34.6 billion) in revenue and 2.57 trillion hryvnia in spending, with a monthly budget deficit of $3 billion, which Ukraine intends to cover by external borrowing.
The draft budget was developed based on the assumption that hostilities would last throughout 2023, Yuri Aristov, the head of the Ukrainian parliament’s budget committee, said on September 27.
The Ukrainian parliament approved the draft budget in early November. Lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak said it envisaged a $38 billion deficit. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed the budget last week. (UNI/SPUTNIK)