Ukraine needs $55B for budget deficit, reconstruction: President

Ukraine needs a total of $55 billion to cover next year's budget deficit and rebuild its infrastructure, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday.

Speaking by video link at a roundtable meeting with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Zelenskyy said his nation needs $38 billion to make up for the estimated deficit in the budget for next year and another $17 billion for critical infrastructure including schools, hospitals and energy facilities.

“The more assistance Ukraine gets now, the sooner we’ll come to an end to the Russian war, and the sooner and more reliably we will guarantee that such a cruel war will not spread into other countries,” he said.