The Verkhovna Rada adopted the law “On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2023”, said MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak (Voice faction). “Parliament adopted the State Budget for 2023 in the second reading and in general,” he wrote in the Telegram channel on Thursday. According to Zheleznyak, 295 people’s deputies supported the budget for the next year, 35 abstained, and no one voted against.
The votes were distributed as follows: the Servant of the People faction – 211, the Voice – 10, the Platform For Life and Peace groups – 18, For the Future – 15, Trust – 16, Restoration of Ukraine – 15 , non-fractional – 10.
The factions “European Solidarity” and “Fatherland” did not give a single vote in support of the state budget.
“Now we hope that international partners will appreciate our punctuality and fully finance the pledged … deficit of $ 38 billion,” Zheleznyak wrote.
As reported, on November 2, the Parliamentary Budget Committee positively assessed the government’s finalization of the draft state budget of Ukraine for 2023, noted its agreement with the International Monetary Fund and recommended that the Verkhovna Rada adopt it in the second reading and as a whole.
The Committee proposed to increase spending on covering the activities of the Verkhovna Rada by UAH 120 million, on parliamentary control over the observance of constitutional human rights and freedoms – by UAH 96.56 million, on financing the statutory activities of political parties – by UAH 519.39 million, on events related to with the privatization of state property – by UAH 38.5 million.
In addition, it was proposed to additionally allocate UAH 62.76 million to the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office and UAH 16.38 million to the National Corruption Prevention Agency, all of this by reducing the Reserve Fund.
The Budget Committee recalled that in the draft state budget finalized for the second reading, revenues were increased by UAH 50.1 billion (or 3.9%), incl. for the general fund – by UAH 26.5 billion; expenses – by UAH 66.8 billion (or 2.7%), incl. for the general fund – by UAH 43.2 billion.
In addition, the deficit in the general fund was expanded by UAH 16.7 billion (or 1.3%) due to the same additional attraction of external financing – up to UAH 1 trillion 442.9 billion in total. “Thus, it is proposed to set the limit of the state budget deficit at the level of 20.6% of the forecast GDP (increased by 0.6 percentage points compared to the draft law submitted for the first reading),” the committee said, noting the significant risks of not receiving such loans.
As the deputies pointed out, the maximum amount of public debt at the end of 2023 was increased to UAH 6 trillion 422.7 billion, which is 102.3% of the forecast GDP (+2.2 percentage points to the bill submitted for the first reading).
When preparing the draft state budget for 2023 for the second reading, the forecast GDP growth was reduced to 3.2% from 4.6% and inflation to 28% from 30%. As a result, the revised forecast of nominal GDP is UAH 6 trillion 279.3 billion instead of UAH 6 trillion 399 billion.
“At the same time, the explanatory note to the finalized bill notes that more optimistic expectations of financial support from international partners, which will help support the balance of payments, led to an adjustment in the assumptions regarding the hryvnia exchange rate against the US dollar at the end of 2023 – UAH 45.8 / $1 (previous forecast – UAH 50 / $1), while its average annual value remains unchanged (forecast – UAH 42.2 / $1),” the committee said.
He added that the forecast of funds transferred by the NBU has been increased by UAH 51.6 billion and it is envisaged that such funds will be credited 50% each to the general and special funds, while in the bill submitted for the first reading – in full to the special fund. This growth made it possible to additionally allocate UAH 16.1 billion to the Fund for the Elimination of the Consequences of Armed Aggression, increased to UAH 35.5 billion.
Among the main changes for the second reading, the committee singled out an increase in pension spending by UAH 38.9 billion; production and broadcasting of television and radio programs for state needs – by UAH 1.4 billion; the judiciary – by UAH 1.3 billion (including the State Judicial Administration – by UAH 1.1 billion, the Supreme Court – by UAH 245.4 million, the High Council of Justice – by UAH 25.5 million), as well as increase in transfers to local budgets – by UAH 2.519 billion, mainly for social and economic development.
In total, revenues in the draft state budget-2023 finalized by the government for the second reading amount to UAH 1 trillion 329.3 billion, incl. for the general fund – UAH 1 trillion 173.1 billion, expenses – UAH 2 trillion 580.7 billion, incl. for the general fund – UAH 2 trillion 296.5 billion, the maximum deficit – UAH 1 trillion 296.5 billion, incl. for the general fund – UAH 1 trillion 124.6 billion.
The living wage is UAH 2589, the minimum wage is UAH 6700.
