The symptoms of the budget crisis have been more showing recently, therefore the need to pass the bill on budget amendments is getting more and more urgent. This was stated by OPPOSITION PLATFORM – FOR LIFE MP Serhiy Lovochkin commenting on data from the State Treasury on the state budget income falling short of target in March by 10.2bln hryvnia.

“The economic crisis followed by the budget one is aggravating. While in February the state budget fell short of target by 4.7 percent or 3.5bln hryvnia, in March it’s lagging by 10.4 percent or 10.2bln hryvnia. Neither general, nor special funds are meeting their targets. The matter of passing the bill amending the budget is getting more and more urgent, and we face the risks that even the most urgent needs will get underfunded in the future. As of first quarter-end, healthcare is underfunded by 17 percent from the general budget, and this is not acceptable in the future,” Lovochkin said.

The politician reminded that OPPOSITION PLATFORM – FOR LIFE has not supported the government’s draft bill on budget amendments because it takes 15bln hryvnia away from the regions, cuts funding of programs for disabled persons, and cuts housing subsidies by 8bln hryvnia.

“We could not vote for this bill and will not vote for it in future. Still, we’ve proposed amendments that hopefully will be considered before the next reading; if so, we’ll support the state budget in voting,” Lovochkin said.

The MP explained that some of the budget expense items will have to be cut anyway because the income part has been fulfilled extremely poorly. In the first three months of 2020, the budget fell short of target by 11.6 percent or 27.6bln hryvnia. The customs office is lagging by 23.3 percent behind the plan (-19.85bln hryvnia), the tax administration by 5.6 percent (-6.5bln hryvnia).

“Everybody realizes that the budget sequestration is necessary. But only non-production expenses can be cut, especially those on the state apparatus and the judicial system. The support for people and business should be increased, and this is included in our anti-crisis package,” Lovochkin said.

As reported, OPPOSITION PLATFORM – FOR LIFE has developed an Anti-crisis plan of decisive and consecutive steps aimed at fighting the epidemic, providing comprehensive social protection of Ukrainian citizens, and supporting the national economy.