The Finance Ministry has announced an increase in the need for external financing of the state budget for next year from $22.7 billion set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program to $35 billion, Deputy Minister Olha Zykova reported.

"The situation during this year, taking into account the activity of the war and the additional military need, which we covered exclusively from domestic resources, showed that this gap will now potentially be expanded by $12 billion, to $15 billion," she said.

Zykova specified that we are talking about a need of about 18.2% of GDP.

The Deputy Minister added that in this regard, the IMF forecast is expected to be adjusted following the fifth review of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) in September.

The day before, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said at a meeting with Ukrainian ambassadors that Ukraine's needs for external financing next year would be at least $38 billion, which corresponds to the planned external financing this year.

According to the National Bank's estimates, international partners will provide Ukraine with about $38 billion in preferential loans and grants this year, and at least $31 billion next year.

According to information on the Ministry of Finance's website, since the beginning of the war, Ukraine's budget has received $98.04 billion in external financing, including $31.10 billion in 2022 (of which $14.23 billion in grants), $42.48 billion (11.62 billion) in 2023, and $24.47 billion ($6.55 billion) this year.