SPECIFIC OF MEDIUM-TERM BUDGET PLANNING IN UKRAINE IN THE CONDITIONS OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

The article is devoted to revealing the peculiarities of medium-term budget planning in Ukraine in the conditions of the coronavirus pandemic and the development of proposals for its improvement. Based on the study of the dynamics of forecast budget indicators on the three-year time horizon, it was proved that medium-term budget planning should be considered as a kind of precaution to avoid unreasonable future government spending, which can adversely affect the pace of economic development and the level of well-being of the population of the country. At the same time, the indicators of revenues and expenditures of the budget for the next years are only a forecast that is periodically clarified in the Budget Declaration by the government in accordance with the trends in the economy and taking into account the emerging various factors of influence. With the spread of COVID-19, adjustments were made to the process of formation and implementation of Ukraine’s budget policy. It is proved that the absence of a legislatively approved strategic plan for the development of the country, including in the sphere of public finances, is one of the reasons for moderate progress in achieving the defined goals. At the present stage of Ukraine’s development, there are long-term financial challenges in the budget sphere that cannot be solved within one budget year, which forces the government to move to medium-term budgetary domination for effective management of budget resources. As a result of the study, the internal and external challenges faced by Ukraine in connection with the need to overcome the consequences of the spread of COVID-19 were identified, the need to focus on ensuring strict compliance with the already established deadlines, criteria and procedures in the formation of the state budget and defining urgent goals of medium-term budget planning. The prospect of further research in this direction is to prove the need to introduce long-term budget planning in Ukraine or to extend the time horizon of medium-term budget planning to a five-year period, which should be based on the relevant legal provision of the Basic Law of the State or the Budget Code of Ukraine.