The state budget of Ukraine received $5 billion in external financing in December, which is twice as much as the previous month, with more than 11% of the total financial assistance coming from grants on non-refundable terms, the press service of the Ministry of Finance reported on Wednesday.
“The attracted international assistance is used to finance priority social expenditures of the state budget, in particular, to pay salaries of employees of the education and healthcare sectors, humanitarian needs, as well as to ensure social protection of the population,” the release said.
According to the agency, the donors in December 2023 were Japan – $2.2 billion (concessional financing and grants), the EU – $1.6 billion (concessional financing), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – approximately $900 million (concessional financing), Norway – $190 million (grant), Germany – $55 million (grant), the United States – $50 million (grant), Switzerland – $20 million (grant) and the World Bank (WB) – $8 million (concessional financing).
It is specified that Japan has provided funding in the form of two grants: one for $180 million under the WB’s Emergency Project for Inclusive Support for Ukraine’s Agricultural Recovery (ARISE) and $52.4 million through the WB’s Housing and Opportunities for People’s Empowerment (HOPE) project.
Japan also financed loans for two WB projects: $1.09 billion for the Public Expenditure Support for Sustainable Governance in Ukraine (PEACE in Ukraine) and $900 million for the Investing in Social Protection for Improved Coverage, Resilience, and Efficiency (INSPIRE) project.
“EU funds in the amount of EUR 1.5 billion are the last tranche of a large-scale macro-financial assistance program (MFA+) of EUR 18 billion for 2023,” the Ministry of Finance emphasized.
As the Ministry reminded, the IMF provided Ukraine with financing worth about $900 million (SDR 663.9 million) as a result of the successful second review of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program by the IMF Executive Board.
At the same time, the grants from Norway, the United States, and Switzerland are part of the sixth additional financing under the PEACE in Ukraine project. In turn, a EUR 50 million grant from the German State Development Bank (KfW) was attracted under the state support program “Affordable Loans 5-7-9%”.
The Ministry of Finance clarified that the concessional financing from the WB in the amount of $8 million is additional funding for the project “Improving Healthcare at the Service of People”.
As reported, in November this year, the Ministry of Finance attracted about $2 billion to the state budget of Ukraine, and in October – $2.8 billion. In total, over 12 months of 2023, Ukraine received about $42.4 billion in external financing for the urgent needs of the state budget.
