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KYIV. Nov 9 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the state budget for 2024 with a deficit of UAH 1.57 trillion, or 20.6% of projected GDP, which is significantly less than the state budget for 2023 – UAH 2.01 billion, or 31.1% of projected GDP.
The adoption of corresponding bill No. 10000 at the second reading was supported by 276 MPs at a plenary meeting on Thursday.
According to the Ministry of Finance, state budget revenues for 2024 are set at UAH 1.769 trillion, which is 24.9% higher than state budget revenues for 2023, while expenses, on the contrary, are 1.1% less – UAH 3.355 trillion.
As for the general fund, next year it is expected that income will increase by 27.3% – to UAH 1.597 trillion, expenses by 0.8% – to UAH 3.121 trillion.
According to the head of the parliament’s budget committee, Roksolana Pidlasa, UAH 1.69 trillion, or 22.1% of GDP, will be spent on providing security and defense forces.
The Ministry of Finance clarified that an increase in funding is provided for the development of the military-industrial complex, including for the production of weapons – UAH 51 billion, as well as UAH 43.3 billion for sea drones and UAVs.
In addition, UAH 469.4 billion are planned to be spent on social protection of citizens, UAH 14.3 billion – to support war veterans, UAH 203.4 billion – on healthcare, UAH 179.1 billion – on education, UAH 10.2 billion – for culture and media space, UAH 7.6 billion for sports, UAH 2.5 billion for digital transformation, UAH 13.6 billion for science and UAH 30.9 billion for business support.
The maximum state budget deficit is set at UAH 1.572 trillion, including for the general fund – UAH 1.509 trillion, which is respectively 21.8% and 17.7% less than in the 2023 state budget.
