Tetiana Кrykun

Economic changes create a strong need for the reconsideration of the system of financial and budgetary knowledge and paradigms already created in developed countries regarding the possibility of their use in the countries with developing economies. In this article, the authors clarify that the process of formation of the efficient and mutually agreed budget policy with strategic tasks of the social and economical development of countries requires development of the budget strategy. Its essence is the dynamic realization of the system of goals, principles, directions, tasks of state authorities, co-ordination and adequacy of their long-term regulatory measures to internal and external changes in the economic environment and social transformations aimed at ensuring macroeconomic stability, accelerating economic growth and improving the well-being of the population. The principles of budget strategy development have been clearly defined: scientific substantiation; integrity; efficiency; systematic approach; adaptability; variability; interdependence; purposefulness; sociality; legitimacy. The share of government expenditures, budget deficit and public debt in the gross domestic product in the EU and Ukraine has been estimated. The priority directions of budget strategies in the conditions of economic transformations have been defined, in particular, regarding the increase of efficiency of public expenditures and establishment of restrictions on their level of growth; improvement of the mechanism for managing budget deficits, public debt and guarantees and reduction of their limits. The research has demonstrated a huge influence of the budget strategy on the social and economical processes and on the development of the social relations.

Large-scale military actions on Ukraine’s territory have led to extraordinary challenges for budget policy. This study aims to evaluate the budget policy of Ukraine and substantiate its strategic priorities in martial law. The paper used economic and statistical methods to assess the ultimate budget indicators. It was determined that budget revenues decreased due to the economic recession, and expenditures, primarily for defense and security, increased. In 2022, compared to 2021 (the full-scale war against Ukraine began on February 24, 2022), tax revenues decreased by 7.6%. In contrast, the study observed an increase in budget expenditures by 65.0%, in the budget deficit by 4.5 times (financed mainly by external borrowings and military bonds bought by the National Bank of Ukraine), and in state and guaranteed state debt by 52.4%. In the context of military operations, the budget policy aims to ensure a balance between financing the most critical items of the budget and stimulating the economy’s recovery. At the same time, the institutional capacity of state authorities allows controlling how a country survives in this challenging period. In order to restore the economy, the Ukrainian government must implement a prudent budget policy, assess fiscal risks associated with changes in the macroeconomic environment, and increase the efficiency of budget expenditures.