Govt must choose between financing anti-epidemic measures, other expenditures – NBU Deputy Head

10:50, 20.11.2020 1 min read

To maintain macrostability, the Ukrainian government needs to choose between financing anti-epidemic measures and other budget expenditures, including capital expenditures and a significant increase of the minimum wage, Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Dmytro Sologub said on Thursday, November 19.

"Here, unfortunately, we cannot do without tough steps in the fiscal sphere. The government needs to choose between financing anti-epidemic measures and other items of budget expenditures ... Yes, this is an unpleasant and difficult choice, but it must be made in order to maintain macroeconomic stability," he reported in the column for the NV edition.

Sologub also said that the position of the NBU remains unchanged - the central bank does not plan to directly finance the budget deficit by purchasing government domestic loan bonds in the primary market.