Groysman: Ukraine should return UAH 427 bln in external debt in 2019

"Our budget for the next year will total one trillion two hundred billion hryvnias and from this amount we need to return UAH 427 billion [in external borrowings], which is one third of the budget," said Groysman during the Svoboda Slova talk show on ICTV Channel, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

In turn, acting Finance Minister Oksana Markarova noted that before submitting the draft budget for 2019 to the Verkhovna Rada, the Cabinet of Ministers approved an external debt management strategy.

"In the next three years, we will not only fulfill all our obligations but also gradually reduce the debt ratio to our GDP," Markarova said.

She added that the implementation of the 2018 state budget is carried out at 98-99%.

"Of course, the IMF program is very important for us, we are working and I hope that we are reaching the final stages of agreements with our partners. The IMF tranche is not transferred to the budget, but to the reserves of the National Bank. It is important for us that it opens the way for financing from other partners of the EU and the World Bank, which is transferred to the budget,” said Markarova.

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