Hetmantsev proposed closing "National Cashback" and transferring money to business

Head of the parliamentary committee on finance, tax and customs policy Danylo Hetmantsev proposed abandoning the state program "National Cashback", and directing the freed funds to business lending under the "5-7-9%" program and expanding war risk insurance.

He said this in an interview, reported by journalists of the publication "RBC-Ukraine" Rostyslav Shapravskyi and Iryna Hamerska.

According to him, tens of billions of hryvnias are needed for these areas of support for entrepreneurs, but additional resources can be found not through increasing budget expenditures, but by reviewing already planned programs.

Hetmantsev claims that there are up to 50 billion UAH in the state budget allocated to programs whose funds are actually not being used.

"It gets to the point that for every fifth program, the fund managers are not even able to complete the procedure and approve the budget program passport in the Ministry of Finance for the entire first quarter. Money is allocated, but it just sits there", he noted.

Hetmantsev criticized "National Cashback"

One of the programs whose funding the deputy suggests reviewing is "National Cashback". Hetmantsev called it an inefficient use of budget funds and a "populist mistake".

According to him, business representatives with whom he discussed this topic also advocate that the state increase funding for affordable business lending instead of cashback.

Hetmantsev stated that the estimated impact of the program on economic growth is insignificant.

"The effect on GDP growth from cashback is 0.10% - that is within the margin of statistical error. It was a populist mistake that should be abandoned, and the funds directed to '5-7-9%' lending", the committee head said.

However, for now this is only Hetmantsev's proposal. The government has not made a decision to terminate "National Cashback" or reallocate funding for the program.

Why business needs additional funds

Hetmantsev considers the "Affordable Loans 5-7-9%" program one of the priorities. Another direction, he says, is expanding war risk insurance, which should ease operations and attract investment for enterprises during the war.

To finance these instruments, in his opinion, it is necessary to conduct a kind of audit of government spending and redirect money from programs that do not use the allocated funding or do not show sufficient economic effect.

"National Cashback" provides for refunding citizens part of the cost of purchased Ukrainian-made goods. Depending on the product category, buyers receive 5% or 15% of the purchase price, with the maximum amount being 3000 UAH per month.