Difficult year awaits Ukraine in 2023: the public finance deficit is estimated at $3-4 billion, it is necessary to ensure the stability of the economy, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will provide support.
An international forum will be convened in the near future to solve this problem, said the Managing Director of the IMF Kristalina Georgieva.
“We need to learn how to ensure the sustainability of the economy. According to our preliminary estimates, three to four billion dollars are needed monthly,†she said at the second meeting of the round table of ministers to support Ukraine as part of the annual meeting of the IMF and the World Bank in Washington in Wednesday, October 12.
Responding to the call of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to organize an economic forum, which meets on a regular basis, and considers the macro-situation in the country, the lack of funding and solves the problem of its reduction, Georgieva said that such work is already underway.
“We will convene the forum as soon as possible,†the head of the IMF said.
She also noted that the Fund has a new platform for interaction, allowing for monitoring jointly with the board of directors, which is the way to a full-fledged program for Ukraine, which Zelensky called for.
“We are moving with you in the direction of a strong Ukraine,†Georgieva stressed.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen noted that a new IMF program for Ukraine could be early next year.
Georgieva clarified that the Fund’s team, together with the Ukrainian team, immediately after the annual meeting of the IMF and the WB, will determine the macroeconomic framework and budget of Ukraine.
She expressed her hope that the war would end sooner rather than later. “But judging by what we see, we should be close to the Ukrainian people,†the head of the IMF said.
She recalled that Ukraine’s international partners have already mobilized $35 billion, a significant part of which has already been transferred, and called for further support, especially in the form of grants.
According to Georgieva, further needs will be determined, firstly, by the cost of social services, which depends on war and migration, and secondly, the cost of restoring vital infrastructure, which also depends on war and on prioritization.
“And thirdly, what are the energy needs of the country, how much needs to be imported to provide for people in Ukraine, and this depends, of course, on the horrors of war,†the managing director added.
She noted that the senseless war of Russia against Ukraine has sharply worsened the prospects for the global economy and brought the most dramatic consequences for the people of Ukraine.
As reported earlier, Finance Minister Sergei Marchenko said that the government estimates the need to finance the state budget deficit in 2023 at $3.5 billion per month.
The first meeting of the round table was held at the spring meeting of the IMF and WB on April 21. It announced Ukraine’s monthly need of $5 billion to finance the state budget deficit in the context of the war unleashed by Russia.
The draft state budget of Ukraine for 2023, which was adopted in the first reading, provides for external financing of the deficit in the amount of $38 billion, or about $3.2 billion per month.
