Ukraine, USA sign agreement on deferral of public debt payments

Ukrainian Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko and United States Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget A. Brink have signed a bilateral agreement on the deferral of the public debt payments.

The relevant statement was made by the Ukrainian Finance Ministry, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

“This agreement will allow us to reduce the debt load on [Ukraine’s] state budget, as well as direct the funds that were supposed to be transferred for the repayment and servicing of debt obligations to the social and humanitarian needs. We are grateful to our partners for their significant contribution to the support of Ukraine’s macro-financial stability and economic growth amid the war,” Marchenko noted.

The above agreement was concluded in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding on the public debt payments suspension, which had been signed with a group of Ukraine’s official creditors from the G7 and the Paris Club countries.

A reminder that Ukraine’s public and publicly-guaranteed debt increased by UAH 1,444 billion, or USD 33.9 billion, in 2023.

As of December 31, 2023, Ukraine’s public and publicly-guaranteed debt came to UAH 5,519.5 billion, or USD 145.3 billion. In particular, Ukraine’s public and publicly-guaranteed external debt was UAH 3,863 billion, or USD 101.7 billion (69.99% of the total public and publicly-guaranteed debt); public and publicly-guaranteed internal debt – UAH 1,656.5 billion, or USD 43.6 billion (30.01%).

Photo: Ukrainian Finance Ministry