The Ukrainian Ministry of Finance is forced to impose restrictions on budget expenditures. Against this backdrop, delays in the payment of salaries in the public sector cannot be ruled out. This was stated by Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko during a parliamentary committee meeting, as reported by Dengi.ua.
According to the minister, the situation depends directly on the inflow of funds into the single treasury account. A lack of liquidity could lead to problems financing certain expenditures.
“Everything depends on how funds are deposited into the single treasury account. I cannot rule out the possibility of delays,” Marchenko said.
He emphasized that delays in salary payments would be an extremely serious problem for the state, but such a scenario cannot yet be completely ruled out.
“I hope it won’t come to delays in salary payments, because that would be a financial disaster. But there is a possibility of that happening,” the minister stressed.
The minister also cited monetary financing of the budget as a possible option. This involves the National Bank issuing additional currency to cover budgetary needs, as happened at the start of the full-scale war amid a sharp decline in government revenues.
“We do not rule out monetary financing of the budget. This would, of course, lead to a devaluation of the hryvnia, inflation, and other negative consequences,” the minister suggested.
At the same time, the use of such a mechanism could complicate Ukraine’s relations with international creditors.
According to Marchenko, the Ministry of Finance has already developed two courses of action in case of a liquidity shortfall. One proposal involves postponing non-essential expenditures until December. Social payments, however, are exempt from this measure. According to the minister, a report on this matter has already been prepared.
In addition, guidelines for operating under limited liquidity have been proposed to the government. Funds are planned to be allocated first to the security and defense sectors, and once additional sources of funding become available, to other budgetary needs.
The restrictions may affect not only the national budget but also local budgets. In particular, if funds are insufficient, construction projects - including those for social infrastructure - will have to be temporarily suspended.
“Any construction programs, including social infrastructure projects, will be suspended until we have sufficient liquidity to finance them,” Marchenko added.