One-third of Ukraine's budget is allocated for payments to the military: Finance Ministry data

The Ministry of Finance of Ukraine has announced that one third of the country's total budget was spent on payments to the military in the first half of 2023, according to the State Treasury Service.

According to the data released by the Ministry of Finance, between January and July of this year, total state budget expenditures amounted to UAH 1.64 trillion, including UAH 231.8 billion in July.

The largest item of expenditures (40.8% of the total) was wages and salaries with accruals - a total of UAH 669.9 billion was spent. Of this amount, UAH 518.8 billion was spent on payments to the military. In July, UAH 100.5 billion was spent on wages, of which UAH 76.9 billion was spent on military personnel.

The second largest item was payment for the use of goods and services (24.8% of the total) - a total of UAH 406.3 billion, including UAH 65.3 billion in July.

According to the Ministry of Finance, more than half of this amount was also allocated to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In particular, UAH 276.9 billion was spent on the purchase of military equipment, weapons, ammunition, personal protective equipment, fuel, food, etc. In addition, UAH 78.6 billion was transferred by the National Health Service to the program of state guarantees of medical care for the population.

The third largest item was social security (pensions, scholarships, etc.), totaling UAH 304.6 billion. Of this amount, UAH 159 billion was allocated to the Pension Fund for pension payments, and UAH 105.5 billion was allocated to support social protection.

Other large items of budget expenditures include transfers to local budgets (5.6% of total expenditures, or UAH 92.3 billion) and public debt service (7.8% of total expenditures, or UAH 128.1 billion).