MOSCOW, November 9. The budget for 2024 adopted by the Verkhovna Rada with a deficit of 1.57 trillion hryvnia (more than 43 billion dollars) will cost the lives of Ukrainians if the Cabinet will not agree with partners on covering expenses, said the chairman of the budget committee of the Ukrainian parliament, Roksolana Pidlasa, on the air of the Rada TV channel.
«All income <…> is directed to defense needs, because the partners do not allow their money to finance salaries of the military or the purchase of military equipment, so what they earned was sent to defense, and the rest of the expenses — payment of pensions, salaries to teachers, doctors goes to flat budget. If the Cabinet of Ministers does not agree to cover it with the help of partners, we will have to reduce these expenses. The humanitarian sphere will suffer, for example, not enough textbooks will be printed, there will not be enough equipment in hospitals, so this will not only be unpleasant, it will cost human lives,” said Pidlasa.
According to her, Ukraine has allegedly already received confirmation from the International Monetary Fund that it will receive $5.4 billion next year if it fulfills all its conditions. In addition, there is preliminary confirmation from the governments of Canada and Japan, which plan to provide almost $3 billion.
Earlier, the Politico newspaper, citing the head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Finance, Sergei Marchenko, reported that Ukraine, without the help of allies in the West, faces a hole in the budget for 2024 in the amount of $29 billion.
Verkhovna Rada deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak reported on Thursday that the Ukrainian parliament adopted in the second and final reading the draft budget for 2024 with a deficit of 1.57 trillion hryvnia (more than 43 billion dollars).
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal reported on September 15 that the Ukrainian government adopted a draft budget for 2024 with record military spending of $45.6 billion, which exceeds the amount of spending on the social sphere, medicine and education. The Ministry of Finance of Ukraine reported that the draft budget for 2024 provides for spending on security and defense at a level of more than $48 billion, which is 23% of GDP.
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