Ukraine may receive about $9B in financial assistance from partners this March

The relevant statement was made by Maksym Samoiliuk, an expert of the Centre for Economic Strategy, in a commentary to Ukrinform.

“The first two months of 2024 were not very fruitful for Ukraine in terms of international aid. As of February 23, 2024, we received only USD 436 million in funding from Japan. Considering that last year we received an average of USD 3-4 billion in foreign financing per month and our budgetary needs remained in place, Government had to postpone some of the expenses for later in January 2024 in order to reduce the deficit to an acceptable level,” Samoiliuk told.

At the same time, the expert is rather optimistic about the funding prospects in the near future. At the level of experts, Ukraine and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have already agreed on another review of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), allowing the country to obtain USD 890 million. Before late March 2024, Ukraine is also planning to receive an additional USD 1.8 billion from Japan and the first tranche of EUR 4.5 billion (USD 4.9 billion) from the European Union.

According to Member of Parliament Yaroslav Zhelezniak, Ukraine is also expected to receive USD 1.4 billion in loan funds from the World Bank.

“Hence, in general, Ukraine may receive USD 9 billion as soon as this March, allowing the state to resume a more stable financing of expenditures. It is important for rhythmic funding to continue,” Samoiliuk emphasized.

In his words, the Ukrainian government expects to receive about USD 37 billion in aid per annum, including USD 19.5 billion (EUR 18 billion) from the European Union and USD 5.4 billion from the IMF (if the cooperation program requirements are met timely and in full). With the aforementioned funding from Japan and the World Bank, it is about USD 8.5 billion worth of the unmet need. From the United States, Ukraine may get about USD 8 billion in budgetary support if approved by the U.S. Congress. Additionally, Ukraine may receive some financing from other partners, such as Norway.

“Overall, it is quite realistic to receive USD 37 billion in international budgetary assistance this year. However, there is still a risk that the actual aid will be lower. In this case, Government will have to look for additional ways of mobilizing internal revenues, for example raising taxes or intensifying the attraction of funds through domestic government bonds. It is too early to speak of emission financing, as there is no need for such financing at the moment,” the expert concluded.

A reminder that Ukraine received USD 42.6 billion in external financing in 2023.