https://sputnikglobe.com/20240807/zelenskys-ukraine-hits-debt-peak-as-it-fails-to-cover-expenses-1119667484.html

Zelensky's Ukraine Hits Debt Peak As It Fails to Cover Expenses

Zelensky's Ukraine Hits Debt Peak As It Fails to Cover Expenses

Sputnik International

Since Ukraine became an independent country in 1991 its public debt has been steadily growing. According to the Ukraine’s finance ministry, the country’s external debt is $103.79 billion dollars, while its internal obligations amount to $40.52 billion. The total public debt of Ukraine reached $152.16 billion.

2024-08-07T15:30+0000

2024-08-07T15:30+0000

2024-08-08T10:18+0000

ukraine

debt

ratings

economy

volodymyr zelensky

viktor yushchenko

imf

finance ministry

world bank

standard & poor (s&p)

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Ukraine recently received a $3.9 billion grant from the US via the World Bank for social expenses that the country fails to cover on its own, showing up a dire financial situation in the country, especially in its levels of debt.According to IMF data and the budget report of Ukraine’s Finance Ministry, Ukraine's state debt amounted to $152.2 billion in July, a record 88.4% of GDP. The main increase is in Ukraine's external debt, which increased by $59.5 billion to reach $103.7 billion. Taking into account the amount of external debt and Ukraine’s current 38 million population, every Ukrainian citizen now owes around $2,728 to a foreign country. Likewise, domestic debt increased by $14.4 billion to $40.5 billion. Under Zelensky, the country’s state debt has grown by $74 billion, which is just a little less than what the previous five Ukrainian presidents incurred between them.Last week, the international rating agency S&P lowered Ukraine's long- and short-term foreign currency credit ratings to SD/SD (Selective Default) - after the country failed to make a bond payment. It came after a similar downgrade in Ukraine's rating by US credit rating agency Fitch.Ukraine's debts have been rising since the 1990s when the country was ruled by Leonid Kravchuk and Leonid Kuchma. According to the Finance Ministry’s data, Ukraine’s public debt increased by $15.7 billion in 2005 alone.After the first Maidan coup, the debt jumped under President Viktor Yushchenko, leading to the fall of his popularity and his defeat in the presidential election in 2010. Next, President Viktor Yanukovych, who defeated both Yushchenko and his Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in 2010 at an internationally recognized election, reduced the debt to 39.9% of GDP. The debt stabilized under the first post-Maidan ruler Petro Poroshenko. During the term of Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine's state debt has grown by $73.8 billion, almost doubling the burden that Zelensky inherited from Poroshenko in 2019.In late July, Zelensky signed a law that allowed the government to suspend payments on foreign debt until October 1 in order to reach an agreement with creditors on restructuring, according to the website of the Verkhovna Rada. After the outbreak of hostilities, private creditors allowed Ukraine to suspend payments on the national debt. Earlier, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal announced that bondholders had agreed on debt restructuring to the amount of about $20 billion. The agreement included writing off 37% of the debt volume.Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin underscored that Ukraine's economy exists only on handouts from other countries. He explained that executives go with their hand outstretched, "begging for an extra million dollars."

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230928/west-pays-for-70-of-zelensky-govts-expenses-as-ukraines-debt-hits-new-high-1113767741.html

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ukraine, state debt, external debt, public debt, debt, west, zelensky