The Cabinet of Ministers fulfilled the budget for 2023, but did not use all available resources to counteract the Russian invasion - Accounting Chamber
Kyiv • UNN
In 2023, the Ukrainian government implemented the state budget under martial law, but did not allocate all possible resources to finance measures to repel Russia's armed aggression and eliminate its consequences, according to the analysis of the Accounting Chamber.
In 2023 , the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine ensured the implementation of the annual budget, but did not allocate all possible resources to finance measures to repel armed aggression against Ukraine and eliminate its consequences. This is stated in the conclusions of the Accounting Chamber on the results of the analysis of the annual report on the implementation of the Law of Ukraine "On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2023", UNN reports.
Details
It is noted that the Cabinet of Ministers implemented the law on the state budget in the context of martial law, overprojected economic and import growth, devaluation of the hryvnia, lower than projected inflation, and receipt of a record amount of international aid, which amounted to 34.3% of the state budget's financial resources.
The Accounting Chamber says that state budget expenditures amounted to UAH 4 trillion 14.8 billion. Compared to 2022, expenditures increased by UAH 1 trillion 309.1 billion (48.4%). In particular, the share of expenditures under budget programs for the implementation of measures for the defense and security of the state has increased.
In addition, every sixth hryvnia of all state budget revenues was used to repay and service Ukraine's debt obligations.
Head of the Accounting Chamber Olha Pishchanska noted that UAH 2.6 trillion (66% of the total) was spent on defense and security measures.
She also emphasized that the analysis found that the government did not allocate all possible resources to financially support measures to repel armed aggression against Ukraine and to eliminate its consequences, in particular:
- in 2023, the Government failed to allocate UAH 5.3 billion from the Fund for Elimination of the Consequences of Armed Aggression, and the main spending units did not use UAH 18.5 billion allocated from this fund;
- the main administrators did not use UAH 1.4 billion of funds received on accounts opened with the NBU as voluntary contributions (UNITED24);
- The Cabinet of Ministers, the Ministry of Finance and some key spending units did not revise the approved for 2023 general fund expenditures for some budget programs, which were carried out monthly in amounts less than planned or not at all.
Accordingly, based on the results of the analysis of the report on the implementation of the State Budget-2023 , the Accounting Chamber provided a number of recommendations to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, in particular:
- promote legislative changes to resume the submission of statistical and financial reports required for the production of official state statistical information by respondents during the period of martial law;
- to instruct the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, together with the relevant authorities, to submit proposals to simplify the procedure for using funds from UNITED24 accounts to attract voluntary contributions (charitable donations) in support of Ukraine to ensure more rapid distribution of these funds;
- to instruct the main spending units to monitor the implementation of budget programs that are planned and not implemented annually and whose expenditures are less than planned on a quarterly basis;
- to instruct the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of budget programs aimed at implementing investment projects implemented at the expense of credits (loans) attracted by the state to the special fund from foreign states, foreign financial institutions and international financial organizations, etc.
Addendum
The Accounting Chamber added that external revenues contributed to the stability of public finances, the growth of Ukraine's international reserves and the implementation of the most necessary state budget expenditures.
Regarding the total budget resources in 2023:
- UAH 1 trillion 585.5 billion was received from the international community in the form of external loans and grants;
- - UAH 3 trillion 36.8 billion were internal resources;
- UAH 3 trillion 36.8 billion were internal resources;
The state budget revenues target was exceeded by UAH 405.8 billion (17.9%), and increased by 1.5 times compared to 2022
Recall
The head of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, said Ukraine needs $42 billion in budget support this year as it continues to struggle with the Russian invasion.
