Key Points
Ukraine will run out of money within months and be forced to take painful economic measures to keep the government running if aid from the U.S. or Europe doesnt come through, according to economists and Ukrainian officials..
The U.S. and the European Union, Ukraines largest financial backers, have promised Kyiv billions of dollars in new financial and military aid..
Without economic stability, fighting a country that is bigger than Ukraine and has much more manpower will be very tough," said Olena Bilan, chief economist at Dragon Capital, a Ukrainian investment bank..
From where we sit in Ukraine, we have to avoid building nice scenarios of how Ukraine can survive, or we will not eat for three months," said Nataliia Shapoval, head of KSE Institute, a think tank at the Kyiv School of Economics..
Ukraine can pull together $8 billion and balance its budget for the first three months of the year by tapping leftover funding from 2023, delaying salaries and other noncritical spending, and increasing domestic borrowing, estimated Bilan, the Dragon Capital economist..
