OREANDA-NEWS The national debt of Ukraine in August increased by a billion dollars and reached almost 134 billion dollars, the Ministry of Finance of the country reported on Thursday.

At the end of August, the Ministry of Finance reported that the national debt of Ukraine exceeded $ 132 billion, in July it increased by 4 billion. Earlier, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov assumed that the volume of Ukraine's public debt could grow to a record $173 billion by the end of the year. At the end of June, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted an increase in Ukraine's public debt in 2023 to 88.1% of GDP, in 2024 to 98.6%, and in 2025 to 100.7%.

"During August, the amount of state and state-guaranteed debt of Ukraine increased in dollar terms by $ 1.01 billion. As of August 31, 2023, the state and state-guaranteed debt of Ukraine amounted to $ 133.93 billion," reads the message published on the website of the Ministry of Finance.

According to the ministry, the external debt is almost 70% of the total amount.

On September 15, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denis Shmygal announced that the government had adopted a draft budget for 2024 with record military expenditures of $45.6 billion, which exceeds the amount of spending on the social sphere, medicine and education. The Ministry of Finance of the country noted that the draft budget for next year provides for an increase in the national debt to UAH 8.18 trillion ($221.5 billion), or up to 104.6% of GDP.