Ukraine budget revenue rises 8% in 2019, below plan

Ukraine’s 2019 state budget revenue rose 7.6% yoy to
UAH 998 bln, which is 3.4% below plan, the State Treasury provisionally reported
on Jan. 2. Net tax revenue rose 17.1% yoy to UAH 457 bln (0.8% above plan).
Customs revenue declined 5.6% yoy to UAH 320 bln (9.3% below plan).

Local budgets’ fiscal revenue improved 15.7% yoy to
UAH 283 bln in 2019, which is 1.5% above plan. Social payments (pension and
other social fund contributions paid by employers) advanced 19.9% yoy to UAH
273 bln.

In December alone, Ukraine’s state budget revenue
jumped 16.1% yoy to UAH 99 bln, which is 28.8% above plan. Net tax receipts
advanced 41.5% yoy to UAH 47 bln, which is 31.1% above plan. In particular,
general tax revenue rose 31.3% yoy to UAH 56 bln, while VAT reimbursement fell
2.2% yoy to UAH 10 bln. Customs revenue increased 2.2% yoy to UAH 30 bln, which
is 11.4% above plan.

In related news, the Ministry of Finance reported the
2019 state budget deficit amounted to UAH 72.4 bln. The deficit was financed by
government borrowing, which exceeded plan by 4%, while privatization receipts
made only 3.1% of plan.

Evgeniya Akhtyrko: Budget collections improved in December. However, we need to observe
the developments of two-three months in order to draw conclusions about its
sustainability. We also cannot rule out the intensified use of manual methods
in budget management, given the unpopular government decision to suspend the financing of some budget
items at the end of December.