Ukraine needs $3.5 billion in additional funding per month in 2023

The country’s needs for additional financing in 2023 reach $3.5 billion of international support per month. This was stated by Minister of Finance, Serhii Marchenko, at a meeting with the IMF’s heads in the USA on October 11, 2022, reports press service of the department.

“Today, we are observing a gradual recovery of the economy in Ukraine, however, in the conditions of active hostilities, it is crucial for us to launch a new cooperation program with the IMF to ensure the stability of the financial system. Ukraine’s needs for additional financing in 2023 reach USD 3.5 billion per month”, said the Ukrainian Minister of Finance.

At a meeting with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, Serhii Marchenko discussed the possibility of a new credit program to ensure priority expenditures of the Ukrainian state budget in 2023. At the meeting with the director of the IMF European Department, Alfred Kammer, the head of the Ministry of Finance expressed hope that the parties will determine the conditions for launching a new cooperation program in the near future.

The Minister of Finance emphasized that further cooperation with the IMF is one of the most important priorities for the country.

The IMF was one of the first to provide financial support to the Ukrainian government. In March 2022, Ukraine received $1.4 billion under the Rapid Financing Instrument from the Fund. On October 7, the IMF directed an additional $1.3 billion in budget support.

The draft state budget for 2023, adopted in the first reading, provides for external financing of the deficit in the amount of $38 billion, or about $3.2 billion per month.

As GMK Center reported earlier, the deficit of the Ukrainian state budget in September 2022 increased to 76.6 billion UAH compared to about 5 billion UAH in July and August 2022. According to Sergii Marchenko, the increase in the deficit in September is associated with a decrease in external financing to $2 billion.

The deficit in September 2022 was close to the indicators at the beginning of the war – in March it was 80.6 billion UAH. The state budget deficit in April was UAH 89.7 billion, in May – UAH 113.4 billion, and in June – UAH 134.9 billion. The state budget in January-September 2022 was implemented with a deficit of UAH 493.4 billion, including the general fund – UAH 495.3 billion. At the same time, the planned deficit for this period amounted to UAH 1,018 billion.