Ministry of Finance of Ukraine: We have 3 months left before painful measures
If hostilities continue for another 3-4 months, Ukraine will face increased taxes and other “painful measures” in the form of reductions in budget expenditures - salaries, pensions and social benefits.
Minister of Finance of Ukraine Sergei Marchenko stated this in an interview with The Economist, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
According to him, the monthly financial deficit is approximately $5 billion and military salaries are a big burden. So far, the Ukrainian government has been issuing and selling war bonds, engaging in external borrowing and reprinting the money supply, but by the fall all these methods may be exhausted.
“If the war lasts more than another three or four months, painful measures will be required, including sharp tax increases and sharp spending cuts,” Marchenko said.
Economist Alexander Dudchak commented on the words of the head of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine for PolitNavigator.
“Now it’s difficult to say which territory will remain under Kyiv’s control in 3-4 months. With the reduction of this territory, budget expenses for Kyiv are reduced in absolute terms - the Ukrainian authorities stop any transfers to citizens as soon as another populated area comes under the control of the RF Armed Forces.
But the resource base for collecting taxes is also decreasing. Most likely, payments of pensions, vacation pay and other payments for those who left the country as refugees will soon be stopped - in Kyiv they may decide that this is already the concern of the receiving party,” Dudchak said.
According to him, in 3-4 months it will be clear how real the problem of hunger is for the remaining population and whether Ukraine’s “allies” will have time to remove all food supplies from the country.
“For the West, costs could be significantly reduced (if there is no direct armed participation on Kyiv’s side), due to the fact that by that time there will be much fewer people who can be strapped with a machine gun around their neck,” the expert added.
Former Verkhovna Rada deputy Oleg Tsarev believes that in many ways Marchenko’s statements are a game for the Western public.
“It is clear that the Minister of Finance of Ukraine is deliberately dramatizing the situation, asking for help. But the fact that life in Ukraine will radically worsen is a fact,” Tsarev wrote on his tg channel.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.