According to updated forecasts for 2025, Ukraine needs to increase its external budget support by $12-15 billion, Deputy Finance Minister Olha Zykova said on Aug. 21.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), which provides economic support to Ukraine through the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program, estimated that Ukraine's external financing needs would amount to $22.7 billion in 2025.
"Based on the revised assumptions underlying the forecast for next year, the need for external financing will increase by USD 12-15 billion," Zykova said.
"The intensity of hostilities and the risks of a prolonged war, as well as the systematic growth of security and defense sector expenditures, are the key factors that influence the growth of financial needs."
Ukraine received around $24.7 billion in direct budget support from international partners in 2024, Zykova said. By the end of 2024, Ukraine expects to gain another $13.5 billion in external financing.
The additional funds will be furnished by the European Union's Ukraine Facility program, the United States, the EFF, Japan, and the United Kingdom, she said.
"It is important to find mechanisms to provide Ukraine with additional financial resources for 2025 as soon as possible," Zykova said.
Zykova called the Group of Seven's (G7) decision to back a loan to Ukraine with frozen Russian assets "critical" and called for "the complete confiscation of all frozen assets of the Russian Federation."
"We are convinced that this financing should be unconditional and should not lead to a deterioration in the country's debt sustainability," she said.
Dinara Khalilova
