PM says Gov't to increase budget revenues by UAH22 bln

Amendments to the Law "On State Budget of Ukraine" envisage an increase of budget revenues by UAH22 billion, primarily due to additional revenues from value added tax. Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk told this at a meeting of the Government on Saturday, February 14.

He has reminded that, according to the Law "On State Budget of Ukraine", the Cabinet has to submit to the Parliament amendments to the law on the state budget until 15 February.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk has highlighted that changes to the state budget proposed by the Government are based on the results of negotiations with international lenders, and especially with the International Monetary Fund.

The Prime Minister has stressed the need to correct macroeconomic parameters in the law on the state budget, "Macroeconomic parameters have changed, primarily because of the continuing of Russian military aggression. These are macroeconomic parameters as exchange rates and inflation."

The program with the International Monetary Fund, according to him, is one of the key elements of the Ukrainian National Bank’s help aimed at stabilizing the exchange rate, "as it is the directly responsibility of the Central Bank", "I hope that the National Bank of Ukraine will do its utmost, provided by the Constitution and the law on the Ukraine’s National Bank in order to stabilize the rate, as well as the banking sector."

"We are still optimistic about the exchange rates," Arseniy Yatsenyuk emphasized.

He stressed that an average rate on the market was about 25 hryvnias per U.S. dollar, at this, the Government had not received an official position of the National Bank, "But in accord with our international creditors, at this stage we estimate an average annual rate being 21".

Regarding inflation, the Head of the Government stressed that it is objectively related to the hryvnia, and to a regulated price increase, "We estimate the inflation of the current year at the level of 26%".

Moreover, Arseniy Yatsenyuk claimed the National Bank of Ukraine would transfer to the State Budget by nearly 5 billion hryvnyas less than was planned in the previous version of the law.

"We should objectively increase expenses of servicing the public debt resulted from an increase of the exchange rate of the national currency. The course has grown, and the state debt in foreign currency is also changing", he stressed.

"Any macroeconomic forecast depends on the key issue - compliance or failure to comply with the Minsk deals. The stabilization of the situation in the East of Ukraine entails an upward trend in our macroeconomic forecast. In case there is no stabilization, we will still be doing everything to ensure functioning of the Ukrainian economy in the territories, fully controlled by the Ukrainian Government. It is the task for the Government, and we will cope with this task", said Arseniy Yatsenyuk.