Budget spending on President's Office to be reduced in 2021 – Yermak

Head of the Ukrainian President's Office Andriy Yermak has said that spending on the Office will be reduced during the finalization of the draft national budget for 2021.

"I consider it unacceptable to increase unproductive spending on maintaining government agencies amid the economic crisis. All expenditures must be well justified and urgently needed. In particular, the expenses of the President's Office will be reduced during the finalization of the draft budget in parliament," he said on Facebook on September 22.

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• Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers approved the 2021 national budget draft on September 14, 2020.
• The Finance Ministry drafted the national budget for 2021 based on an economic and social development outlook for 2021-2024 elaborated by Ukraine's Ministry for Development of Economy, Trade, and Agriculture for a new forecast period. The outlook was endorsed at a government meeting in July 2020.
• According to the updated macroeconomic forecast, the country's gross domestic product (GDP) may increase by 4.6% in 2021. Inflation in December 2021 may reach 7.3% year-on-year.
• On the average, the inflation rate in 2021 is expected at 8.1%.
• The average monthly salary in Ukraine in 2021 is expected at UAH 13,632 (nearly US$483). Next year, exports of Ukrainian goods are projected at US$60.175 billion, while imports are expected at US$70.591 billion.
• On September 15, the document was registered in parliament and on September 18, lawmakers began finalizing it.