Minister of Finance Sergii Marchenko of Ukraine and Minister of Economy and Finance Giancarlo Giorgetti of Italy held a phone call to discuss the financial needs of Ukraine’s state budget for the current and next year, the implementation of the 4-year Ukraine Facility program, and Italy’s participation in the reconstruction of Ukraine.
This was reported by the press service of the Ministry of Finance, Ukrinform reports.
“Despite a certain stabilization of the economic situation, the degree of uncertainty regarding the key macroeconomic forecasts remains high due to security risks. In addition, we are planning military expenditures at the level of 2023 in the State Budget for 2024 and, accordingly, the budget deficit is projected to be no less than this year. Thus, it is vital for us to have assurances from our partners regarding predictable and rhythmic support for the next year,” said Sergii Marchenko.
In this context, the parties discussed the cooperation of the Ukrainian side and the EU on the implementation of the Ukraine Facility program for 2024-2027 with a total amount of EUR 50 billion.
The funds under the special financial instrument will be directed to support Ukraine’s macro-financial stability, recovery and reconstruction, and modernization of the country. The program will also facilitate integration into the European Union through harmonization with EU rules and standards.
Giancarl Giorgetti noted that Italy remains committed to supporting Ukraine, as well as to the implementation of the Ukraine Facility program to support Ukraine’s financial stability.
The parties agreed to continue a close dialogue between the Ministries of Finance of Ukraine and Italy, in particular on the sidelines of the Annual Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank to be held on October 9-15 in Morocco.
As reported, the finance ministers of Ukraine and Germany – Sergii Marchenko and Christian Lindner – signed a memorandum on cooperation between the two countries, which will expand the possibilities of assistance to the budget of Ukraine in the future.
Source: UkrInform