Ukraine reported on a decrease in the state budget deficit in 2025. In January - May, the gap between income and expenditures amounted to UAH 426 billion, which is 9% less than in the same period last year. However, according to Forbes Ukraine, it is only the visibility of improvement - without grants, the deficit deficit increased by UAH 87.5 billion or 17%.
In recent years, grants have become a critical source of filling the Ukrainian budget. In the first five months of 2025, the country received 169 billion UAH of non -returnable care, which is 16% of all income. At the same time, in May, new grants did not receive at all, and this is already alarming about the stability of funding in the second half of the year.
Grants are not formally considered debt, but are in fact an external budget donor, which compensates for the lack of their own revenues. That is why experts analyze the deficit without grants - and this technique has become a new standard of the last three years.
The numbers look positive - the deficit is smaller than last year. But the real picture shows another: the Ukrainian economy generates even less income than in 2024. But expenditures do not decrease - especially on the safety and defense sector, social payments, debt service.
If the grants decrease or stop, the deficit may deepen sharply, and the government will either have to increase internal borrowing or re -revise the tax system.
