State Budget for 2025, Discount Rate Remains at 13%

State Budget for 2025

On 31 October 2024, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted in the first reading the Draft Law on the State Budget of Ukraine for 2025.

The Draft currently sets out, inter alia, a number of key macroeconomic indicators, including:

general fund revenues are planned at UAH 2 trillion 7 billion (UAH 411 billion more than in 2024);
general fund expenditures are planned at UAH 3 trillion 644 billion (UAH 535 billion more than in 2024);
the maximum deficit amount is estimated at UAH 1 trillion 640 billion (70 billion less than in 2024), which will amount to 19.4% of GDP;
GDP is forecast to grow by 2.7%;
consumer inflation rate is expected to increase to 9.5% (from 7.9% in 2024);
the average exchange rate of the UAH is estimated at 45 UAH per 1 US dollar.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the second reading of the state budget should be completed no later than 20 November, and the final adoption of the state budget should be completed no later than 1 December 2024.

Discount Rate Remains at 13 %

On 31 October 2024, the press service of the National Bank of Ukraine reported that the NBU Board had adopted Decision No. 391-rsh “On the Discount Rate”, which provides for the discount rate to remain at 13% at least until the summer of 2025.

The NBU Board believes that this decision, combined with support for the foreign exchange market, will help maintain control over inflation, slow it down in 2025, and return it to the 5% target in the future.

Extension of Deadlines for Foreign Currency Payments via Diia

On 31 October 2024, the Ministry of Economy announced the launch of a beta test of a new service for businesses on the Diia platform – submitting an online application and receiving a conclusion from the Ministry of Economy on the extension of deadlines for settlements in international trade.

The service has already been launched in beta mode, and the full launch is scheduled for December 2024.

The service is designed to extend the deadlines for goods with long production or delivery times, including industrial equipment, medical and military equipment.

Legal entities and individual entrepreneurs engaged in foreign economic activity can already join the testing, and the first 100 participants will receive the service with technical support during the beta testing phase.

To access the service, you shall:

Register for the beta test by filling out the appropriate form at the link;
Receive an email within 10 days about the start of beta testing, which will contain further step-by-step instructions.

The project is being implemented within the framework of the ePermit Program, jointly with the Ministry of Digital Transformation and with the support of the EU under the EU4DigitalUA initiative.