The government has coped with the task of financing all key national budget expenditures in the first six months of 2023, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal said.

"We see and clearly understand how this year will go in terms of financing the budget deficit. This allows to ensure the macroeconomic and macrofinancial stability of our state… In the first six months of 2023, we coped with the task of financing all key budget expenditures. All taxes of citizens and businesses we sent to ensure the defense and security of the country," he said at the Friday government meeting.

According to the prime minister, in just January-June 2023, the general fund of the national budget received almost UAH 870 billion, of which UAH 600 billion were tax revenues, UAH 270 billion were grants from international partners.

He also said that according to the results of the first six months, various funds of the national budget received UAH 1.302 trillion of taxes, fees and other payments.

"If revenues amounted to UAH 1.3 trillion, then over the same period of six months, national budget expenditures amounted to UAH 1.784 trillion. As I said, the absolute priority of the budget is security and defense. We are now spending about half of all funds on this, which are in the budget," Shmyhal said.

According to him, for six months of 2023, some UAH 231 billion were allocated from the national budget for social payments, of which UAH 136 billion went to pensions and support from the Pension Fund. Some UAH 23.1 billion of subsidies were paid.

"In addition to the army, security and social benefits, medicine, education and support to the regions remained the key areas of spending in the first half of the year. In the first quarter of this year, it was possible to ensure the average salary of health professionals at the level of almost UAH 22,000. Only educational subventions for the regions for six months were paid in the amount of over UAH 56 billion. Of these, UAH 900 million has already been directed to equipping bomb shelters in schools and another UAH 600 million to purchase new school buses," the prime minister said.