Denys Shmyhal: 2023 Budget is a budget for victory

The budget for 2023 has one main priority — the defense and security of our country, emphasized Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal. During the meeting on September 13, the Government has approved the relevant draft budget.

"The 2023 budget is a budget for victory. Yet now, we openly tell society that the year will not be easy. War is expensive. Very expensive. Therefore, the core objective is to use the funds we have with maximum effectiveness," said Denys Shmyhal.

The Head of Government reported, more than UAH 1.1 trillion or almost 50% of all expenditures, according to the approved draft of the state budget, would be directed to the security and defense sector.

"Those are the wages of the military, provision of the army, repairs, and purchases of equipment and weapons, and many other things critical for the defense sector. If we compare it with the budget that we submitted for 2022, then an increase in spending on security and defense will be more than 4 times," the Prime Minister noted.

Another important direction of the budget financing will be the social programs. According to the Head of the Government, 35% of expenses will comprise pensions, subsidies, assistance to low-income families, payments to internally displaced persons, expenses in the healthcare and education sectors.

"This is more than UAH 800 billion. It is critical that the Government will ramp up targeted assistance to those who need it the most, in particular, we anticipate growth in financing of the Pension Fund from the budget by over UAH 30 billion," stressed Denys Shmyhal.

Moreover, according to the Prime Minister, all other expenses will be reduced, in particular, on state authorities: "We are reducing the number of officials, cutting salaries and bonuses. With the exception of law enforcement agencies, expenses for the maintenance of state authorities will be reduced by UAH 11.6 billion as compared to 2022."

In addition, as part of the national budget for 2023, a budget-funded Armed Aggression Consequences Liquidation Fund containing a resource of at least UAH 19 billion will be created. According to the Prime Minister, it is planned to accumulate the confiscated funds of russia and russian citizens, as well as international aid for rapid recovery. An additional grant for compensation of expenses for local budgets in connection with the war to the tune of UAH 24 billion is also envisaged.