Ukraine's 2018 draft budget passes first reading

A respective resolution to endorse the committee's conclusions to draft bill No. 7000 was backed by 265 members of parliament, while 260 lawmakers voted to pass the draft budget in the first reading, with the required minimum being 226 votes.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman who was present during debates on the draft budget prior to the voting said that the government's draft is a budget of economic development and fully meets the interests of decentralization.

Read alsoUkraine budget revenue target overfulfilled by 5.2%"Let me thank every lawmaker. They've shared many wise ideas in this session hall, and we'll have time to finalize and take into account every proposal. We're absolutely open to qualitative cooperation and think that the development of the national economy is a No. 1 priority," he said.

As UANIN reported, the Verkhovna Rada on September 22 accepted for consideration the draft national budget for 2018 with revenues set at UAH 877 billion and outlays set at UAH 948 billion.

The government prepared the budget on the expectation of a 2.4% deficit (UAH 77.9 billion) and 3% economic growth.

State debt as of December 31, 2018, is capped at UAH 1.999 trillion, the government-guaranteed debt is set at UAH 747.6 billion, which, according to the government's estimates, accounts for 84.6% of GDP.

Having analyzed the draft budget, the parliament's budget committee proposed that lawmakers pass it in the first reading with a number of amendments, including an increase in spending under some programs. The increase may be compensated by more profits to be transferred by the National Bank and more taxes, gas royalties.

The budget will likely undergo a series of amendments before it is passed in the second reading.