Salaries for Doctors and Teachers, Army and Infrastructure: Cabinet Approves 2022 State Budget

The budget deficit will amount to 3.5% of GDP, and most of it is expected to be covered by government bonds.

On September 15, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the draft state budget for 2022 at a government meeting. The document has already been sent to the Verkhovna Rada for consideration.

Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko presented the main items of revenue and expenditure of Ukraine's state budget for next year.

Revenue

Planned budget revenue for 2022 is set at UAH 1.277 trillion, which is UAH 166 billion more than in 2021.

As Marchenko explained, the largest share of revenue from value added tax amounts to UAH 564.5 billion, or UAH 72 billion more than this year.

The increase is planned due to work on the shadow economy. As Marchenko said, thanks to de-shadowing, UAH 43 billion has entered the budget since May of last year.

The second-largest source of state revenue is the personal income tax, which amounts to UAH 160.8 billion, also significantly more than in 2021, by UAH 20 billion.

Expenditure

Spending in 2022 will increase by UAH 103 billion compared with this year and will amount to UAH 1.465 trillion.

The largest share of spending was allocated to social protection, UAH 320.1 billion. Full funding of housing and utility services in the amount of UAH 34 billion is provided. UAH 13.9 billion has been allocated to support veterans. 

The army is allocated 5.95% of Ukraine's GDP, or UAH 319.4 billion. The Ministry of Defense will receive UAH 131 billion.

Next year, an increase in salaries for medical staff is expected, and with this in mind, UAH 197.2 billion is allocated to healthcare from the budget. The lion's share of these funds will be used by the medical guarantees program, UAH 157.2 billion, while UAH 4 billion will be allocated to the construction of new hospitals.

UAH 185.6 billion will be allocated to education, mainly to increase teachers' salaries and student scholarships. UAH 8.9 billion will be directed to inclusive education. UAH 13.8 billion is allocated to the development of science. Also, UAH 100 million will be directed to the presidential university.

More than UAH 120 billion is allocated to the construction of roads, repair of bridges and airports. UAH 13.5 billion is allocated to culture and the arts, and UAH 11.3 billion to physical culture and sports.

UAH 16.1 billion is provided for the development of transport infrastructure, while UAH 4.5 billion will be directed to support for the coal industry.

The agro-industrial sector will receive UAH 8 billion in 2022. Entrepreneurship development programs also remain in force: UAH 3 billion for the affordable "5-7-9" loans and UAH 10 billion for portfolio state-owned enterprises.

The Ministry of Finance allocated UAH 53.3 billion for regional development and UAH 7.9 billion for digitalization. The strategic sector will receive UAH 7.5 billion for the development of the space industry and the defense-industrial complex.