Ukraine's need for international assistance for 2024 reduced by almost $4 billion
Finance Minister Serhii Marchenko (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
Ukraine's external financing needs for the year 2024 are estimated at $37.3 billion, as confirmed by experts from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), according to Finance Minister Serhii Marchenko and the press service of Ministry of Finance of Ukraine.
"The need for external financing for 2024 has been reduced from $41 billion through measures to maximize state budget revenues, activate the domestic borrowing market, and other initiatives," Marchenko said.
He made these remarks during a meeting with finance ministers and central bank leaders from G7 countries, the leadership of the European Union, the IMF, and the World Bank.
According to the minister, all capital expenditures of the state budget have also been cut.
"In 2024, the key priorities are the military campaign and social support. While defense and security are funded solely from domestic budget revenues, we rely on international partners to meet the needs of the social sphere," Marchenko said.
The minister revealed that Ukraine had already received $39 billion in external financing in 2023. By the end of the current year, assistance from donors is expected to reach around $42.3 billion.
Marchenko highlighted that international support during the full-scale war had helped maintain financial and economic stability.
"In 2023, Ukraine's economy demonstrates resilience and development. GDP growth is forecasted to be up to 5%, inflation has decreased from 26.6% last year to 5.1% in November this year. Customs and tax revenues to the state budget for the first 11 months of 2023 increased by $4.4 billion compared to the same period in 2022," he said
Assistance to Ukraine
Difficulties arose in December in approving a $60 billion aid package in the U.S. Congress and a European Union package for the years 2024-2027 totaling €50 billion.
The Senate plans to consider the aid package to Ukraine in the near future. The EU will revisit the issue of assistance in January after it was blocked by Hungary.
Previously, the head of the National Bank of Ukraine, Andrii Pyshnyi, mentioned that there were risks regarding the predictability of Ukraine's aid inflows in December. "Predictability might be undermined now, but we are not ready to assert that sufficiency and expectations regarding the volume of financial aid are undermined," Pyshnyi said.
At the same time, the National Bank of Ukraine expects the restoration of the predictability of external financing in the near future. The basis for this is the successful completion of the second review of the IMF's Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program for Ukraine and the corresponding assurances from international partners, which are an integral parts of this program.
