The Ukrainian parliament approved on Wednesday the allocation of an additional 500 billion grivnas (around 10.8 billion euros) to cover the army's financing needs until the end of the year, government and parliamentary sources said.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmigal had already explained that the initial budget for 2024 would not be sufficient, since it had been calculated taking into account that the war would end this summer.
Ukraine spends 100% of its domestic taxes on military and defense expenditure and covers the financing of public services and other civilian expenses thanks to international aid.
As Shmigal explained at the time, each soldier costs the Ukrainian state an average of 32,000 dollars (28,760 euros) per year.
The revised budget approved today is expected to be financed by issuing debt and raising taxes, particularly on tobacco and fuel, said Roksolana Pidlasa, chairwoman of the parliamentary budget committee.
On Tuesday, the Ukrainian parliament (Verkhovna Rada) approved in its first reading (which will require a second vote to be approved) an increase from 1.5% to 5% in taxes on the so-called "war tax", levied on taxpayers to finance the army.
The new legislation also increases taxes on several segments of taxpayers and introduces changes to the taxation of banks and companies.
Ukraine has been relying on financial and arms aid from Western allies since Russia invaded the country on February 24, 2022.
No comments:
Post a Comment