The Public Debt of Ukraine and the Budget Expenditure for Its Service

Abstract

the public debt is deepened, the visions of the public debt as a phenomenon burdening the national economy, found in various schools of economics, are reviewed. It is demonstrated that the high internal and external dept in parallel with the respectively growing expenditure for its service is a pressing problem for Ukraine, calling for an urgent solution. This raises the need for seeking ways to improve the public debt management mechanisms. The article’s objective is to deepen the theoretical and methodological framework for assessment of the public debt in Ukraine and the budget expenditures for its service. It is demonstrated that the public debt in Ukraine results from the public budget deficit, high sovereign borrowing from internal and external sources. The econometric assessment of the time series on budget expenditures for debt service and repayment in Ukraine is given. The analysis of the public debt dynamics in Ukraine shows that not only the increasing volume of public debt and State-guarantee debt, but also the increasing budget expenditures on its service and repayment are dangerous. The high deficit of public budget is persisting, which growth is caused, inter alia, by the payment commitments. The expenditures on service and repayment of public debt constitute a large share in the public budget expenditures. Forecasting calculations made in the article demonstrate the upward tendency in the public budget expenditures on repayment and service of the public debt of Ukraine, thus signaling the growing threats to the budget security of Ukraine. The main factors for the rapidly increased debt burden in Ukraine over the latest years are identified: the considerable devaluation of domestic currency (Hryvnya), sharp drop in GDP, the shrinking internal consumer demand, etc. It is demonstrated that the risk of the increasing payments for service of public debt is an essential and chronic factor generating problems in public finances and affecting the budget security of Ukraine.

Keywords

• public debt, repayment of public debt, service of public debt, public budget, budget expenditures.