On Friday, the state budget of Ukraine received a CAD 2.4 billion (about $1.8 billion) concessional loan from Canada under the Additional Agreement, the Finance Ministry of Ukraine has reported.

"Canada once again demonstrated that it is a reliable partner of Ukraine - today we received CAD 2.4 billion, which will be directed primarily to financing priority expenditures of the State Budget," Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko was quoted as saying.

The Ministry of Finance said that the repayment period of additional loan is 10 years, the interest rate is 1.5% per annum. The funds were provided through the mechanism of the Administrated Account of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

As reported, the external financing needs of Ukraine's state budget in 2023 are about $38 billion, and after a recent increase in spending by UAH 537 billion, they are already estimated at $42.5 billion.

According to the Ministry of Finance, since the beginning of this year as of March 29, funding from international partners has already reached $9.17 billion, compared with $32.14 billion last year. Including this year, $3.5 billion in grants were received from the United States, $4.85 billion in loans from the EU, and another $495 in loans and guarantees from the UK.

Domestic financing through government bonds this year amounted to $3.43 billion.