Kyiv (Reuters) – Ukraine’s parliament on Tuesday approved changes to the 2023 state budget, boosting state spending to support small businesses and directing more money towards Russia’s invasion post-reconstruction and restoration projects.
Roksolana Pidlasa, chairman of the parliamentary budget committee, said that spending increased by 5.5 billion hryvnias (150 millions of dollars).
The increased funding includes funding and modernizing hospitals in the capital Kyiv and the western city of Lviv, as well as rebuilding bridges damaged in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The revised budget also plans 1.24 billion hryvnia for small businesses in the processing industry to provide additional support and provide state guarantees for loans to the agricultural sector.
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Nearly a year of war has ravaged Ukraine’s public finances, leading to double-digit inflation, higher unemployment, a sharp drop in exports and huge losses in revenue and tax revenue.
Ukraine’s budget deficit for this year is expected to be about 36 billion dollars. The government plans to cover the deficit with Western foreign aid. .8 billion hryvnia from taxes and 31 .5 billion hryvnia from customs in January. The government also received 2023.24 billion hryvnias in foreign aid last month.
($1=36.5686 hryvnia)
