Article author:
Reuters
Andrea Sharal and Idrees Ali
The United States will send an additional $5.5 billion to Ukraine, consisting of $4.5 billion in budget support and $1 billion in military support. To help deal with the turmoil of this year's Russian invasion.
According to the U.S. Agency for International Development, the $4.5 billion budgetary grant will fund immediate government needs, including pension, social welfare and health care payments, and will help reduce the cost of post-Russia incursions in February. said the total US financial aid to Ukraine would be $8.5 billion.
According to USAID, the funds will be coordinated with the U.S. Treasury Department through the World Bank and will be split to the Ukrainian government, starting with her $3 billion payment in August. Sent.
This follows previous transfers of $1.7 billion in July and $1.3 billion in June, according to USAID. Washington has also provided billions of dollars in military and security assistance.
The $1 billion weapons package announced by the Department of Defense is the largest single military package under President Joe Biden's reduced authority, including long-range rockets and armored medical transport vehicles.
Fifty M113 armored medical transports and ammunition for US-supplied HIMARS long-range rocket launchers and NASAMS surface-to-air missile systems.
The financial and military aid package, first reported by Reuters on Monday, draws from his $40 billion aid package for Ukraine approved by Congress in May. It is.
Overall, the United States donated more than $18 billion to Ukraine this year. Poverty in Ukraine grows The new Budget Fund is essential for the Ukrainian government, including social and financial support for the growing poor, children with disabilities and millions of internally displaced people as the war drags on. to help maintain good functionality.
Ukrainian officials estimate the country faces a $5 billion monthly budget deficit (2.5% of pre-war gross domestic product) due to war costs and reduced tax revenues. . Economists say Ukraine's annual deficit will swell to 25% of her GDP from 3.5% before the conflict.
The World Bank estimates that 55% of Ukrainians will be living in poverty by the end of 2023 as a result of the civil war and large numbers of displaced persons. Previously he was 2.5%. Beginning of war.
USAID said that with US budget support, the Ukrainian government will be able to keep gas and electricity flowing to hospitals, schools, and other critical infrastructure, and to deliver urgently needed humanitarian aid to its citizens. said to have become
This funding also goes to health care workers, teachers, and other civil servants.
USAID has strong oversight bodies built into the World Bank and the USAID-funded Ukrainian government to ensure funds are directed where they are intended. He said that protective measures were in place.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement, "This economic aid is critical for the Ukrainian people to protect their democracy from a unilateral Russian war of aggression."
Millions of Ukrainians have been displaced from their homes as a new influx of funds into Ukraine follows a six-month war in what Russia calls a "special military operation." , officials warn of possible gas shortages in winter.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal, Idris Ali, Mike Stone; additional reporting by David Lowder, editing by Heather Timmons and Howard Goller)