Budget Committee approved an increase in budget expenditures by UAH 500 billion: what is envisaged

The Budget Committee of the Verkhovna Rada has recommended approving draft law No. 11417 on increasing state budget expenditures for 2024 by UAH 500 billion, according to the deputies, UNN reports.

Details

"The Parliamentary Committee on Budget supported this version and recommended to adopt the draft law as a basis and as a whole. Thus, instead of UAH 125 billion in 2024, we may (possibly) receive UAH 30 billion from tax increases. At the same time, the needs of the security and defense sector (which are covered only by domestic revenues) remain at almost UAH 500 billion," the head of the Budget Committee, MP Roksolana Pidlasa wrote on Facebook.

"The Budget Committee recommended to approve the revised text of draft law No. 11417 on increasing budget expenditures by UAH 500 billion immediately. There were 25 votes in favor. There was a difficult discussion at the Budget Committee. The government asked for the whole bill and immediately with changes. Several MPs from different factions, including me, either proposed to make more changes or to put it only as a basis with the right to submit amendments. Including to reduce funding for cashback, the marathon and the Rada channel. And many other proposals. But the decision as a whole can be blocked in the hall by any deputy, and then we will go to the second reading," MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak added on Telegram.

What changes are proposed

Zheleznyak, citing data from the head of the Budget Committee, said that the new changes set out in the committee's decision were within the scope of the new amendments:

- About UAH 115.4 billion - reduction of expenditures on servicing and repayment of the state debt (in the government version it was UAH 125.6 billion)

- An additional UAH 216 billion is planned to be raised from the placement of domestic government bonds (UAH 160 billion was planned in the government's version)

- Additionally, we receive about UAH 100 billion from the overfulfillment of taxes and fees (and previously planned - UAH 76 billion)

- Revenues from excise taxes on fuel and tobacco amounted to UAH 12.7 billion (UAH 13.7 billion in the previous year)

- About UAH 30 billion are expected revenues from the new tax changes (UAH 125 billion was planned)

- Reduction/abandonment of new expenditures in the general and special funds by UAH 25.5 billion

The main items of spending cuts, according to the published data:

- UAH 11.2 billion - from the Ministry of Strategic Industry (from the "defense industry development" program). These are funds from the so-called "military personal income tax". At the same time, the Ministry still has funds for this program in the general fund - UAH 7.7 billion per year plus the balance of the "military personal income tax" accumulated since the beginning of the year in the special fund - about UAH 32 billion),

- UAH 8.6 billion - unused funds of the Ministry of Social Policy (the budgeted plan exceeded actual expenditures for 8 months of the year),

- UAH 4.5 billion - refused to replenish the Reserve Fund, which was included in the government's version (in August, the government had already made a redistribution of almost UAH 30 billion to the Reserve Fund from the debt service program and others),

- UAH 1 billion - other cuts due to cost savings in the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Ministry of Digital Transformation, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Education, the NACP (on political party financing), the Ministry of Reintegration, the Ministry of Recovery, the CEC (on local elections), and others,

- UAH 662.2 million from the State Customs Service,

- UAH 227.8 million - reduced expenditures on the maintenance of government agencies (CMU, State Food and Consumer Service, State Statistics Service, HACC, High Court of Intellectual Property, State Geological Survey, State Maritime and Water Transport Service, State Agency for Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving, State Agency for Tourism, State Aviation Service, State Agency of Ukraine for Tax Administration, State Debt Management Agency, State Financial Monitoring Service, NADS, etc.)

At the same time, according to the published data, expenditures on public debt servicing have been restored in the amount of +UAH 14.9 billion, as in August (after the registration of draft law 11417), UAH 24.5 billion was allocated from debt servicing to the Reserve Fund of the State Budget.

Also, as indicated, a new subvention is proposed for local governments (+ UAH 2 billion) for meals for primary school students.

"It is proposed to change the principle of distribution of the military personal income tax for three months of 2024: now only 25% of the military personal income tax goes to the general fund of the state budget, it is proposed to increase this share to 59%, and to leave 41% for the special fund and cancel the allocation of the military personal income tax to the Ministry of Strategic Industries (I wrote above that this will increase the budget resource for the Armed Forces and other military by UAH 11.2 billion)," Zheleznyak wrote.