Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that the budget deficit could reach $5 billion in the coming months, so Ukraine needs financial help from the West more than ever.
He has made this statement in an interview with ABC News.
“In an interview with the American ABC News, I spoke about the support that Ukraine expects from the West and the United States to win in the war for liberation. Weapons, finances, and sanctions make a triad that will help stop the aggressor and restore peace in Europe,” Shmyhal wrote on its Telegram channel.
The Prime Minister said that a delegation of the Ukrainian government would visit Washington next week.
“Our team’s financial unit will work in Washington. [They will have] meetings with the IMF, the World Bank, and the US government to raise additional funds to finance the needs of the Ukrainian army, Ukrainian economy, and our people. The budget deficit could reach $5 billion in the coming month; therefore, we now need help from the West more than ever now,” Shmyhal said.
“Another message we are sending to the world is that Ukraine is ready for a diplomatic ending of this war. But we will not give up our national interests. If russia does not want to end the war through diplomacy, we will have to end this war on the battlefield,” - the prime minister added.
In an interview with The New Yorker, Oleh Ustenko, the president’s economic adviser, estimated Ukraine’s budget deficit at almost $8 billion a month. He also called on partners to increase financial aid.
Earlier, Minister of Finance Serhiy Marchenko forecasted a state budget deficit of $5-7 billion per month in April-May, compared to $2.7 billion in March.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that the deficit of the Ukrainian budget made 7 billion euros a month during the war. He noted partners are aware of this number.
According to Prime Minister Shmyhal, in the first quarter of 2022, the revenues of the state budget were executed at 110%. In the second quarter, a significant decrease is forecasted because of the military invasion of the russian rederation.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated the same in an interview with Ukrainian online media.