Getmantsev on money for the budget: Internal borrowing opportunities have not yet been exhausted

This was reported by the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy Danylo Getmantsev in an interview with Ukrinform.

He recalled that the Ministry of Finance and the expert community have repeatedly emphasized that the potential for domestic borrowing is on the “edge.” The parliamentarian does not agree with such opinions.

“Yes, the borrowing results for the first two months of 2025 are significantly lower than for the same period in 2024. Thanks to the placement of domestic government loan bonds, we attracted UAH 56 billion, which is UAH 18.3 billion less than in the first two months of last year. At the same time, we repaid UAH 75.3 billion (in equivalent) of domestic government loan bonds in all currencies. Accordingly, the level of over-indebtedness is 74%. That is, we borrow less than we repay. While last year the situation was the opposite: this figure reached 164%,” Mr. Getmantsev emphasized.

However, in his opinion, this should not be considered a “betrayal” or a “catastrophe”. After all, at the beginning of the year, Ukraine had significant balances on the Single Treasury Account, which allowed the Ministry of Finance not to attract additional funds held in reserve (UAH 264 billion equivalent).

“In addition, in two months the country received 3 billion euros in budget financing from the European Commission. That is why, when managing budget liquidity, the Ministry of Finance used available balances without increasing borrowing,” explained the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada's financial committee.

He recalled that this year the plan for placement of government bonds is UAH 579 billion. Up to 10% of the required amount has already been attracted. The deputy is confident that the pace of implementation of the government bond issue plan will increase in the coming months. After all, the limit for auction placements of government bonds has not yet been exhausted.

“Firstly, we have a significant resource of savings of the population and businesses in bank accounts. In particular, 70% of bank deposits in hryvnia (UAH 1.27 trillion) are demand deposits. And the NBU has the opportunity to stimulate banks to increase term deposits and invest these funds in government bonds. Next are local authorities. In general, their government bond portfolio is only 0.04% of the total number of bonds in circulation. We also expect the return of non-resident portfolio investors. Especially if we achieve stable peace. The government bond portfolio of such creditors is only 1%, while in 2019 this share reached 14%. Thus, we also have a good reserve,” Getmantsev specified.

Read also: The Ministry of Finance placed government bonds worth UAH 6.7 billion

As reported, on March 11, the Ministry of Finance attracted UAH 8.5 billion to the state budget at an auction to place domestic government loan bonds. The first issue of domestic government loan bonds in our country took place on March 10, 1995. Over the past three decades, Ukraine has placed domestic government loan bonds worth more than UAH 3.3 trillion on market terms.