The revenue side of the 2010 budget has been executed by 99%, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said at the opening session of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

The budget deficit was kept within 5% after a frenzied 15% deficit in 2009; due to effective external funding we have been able to reduce domestic borrowings by 30 billion UAH," Mykola Azarov said.

In his view, the decrease in domestic borrowings reduced the practice in which credit resources were "washed out" of the economy and were not directed at the development of domestic enterprises.

In the past year, according to Azarov, social obligations were fully funded. Unlike most European countries that have reduced social benefits, we followed social standards, the Prime Minister said.

According to Azarov, payments under secure social articles in the past year rose by 23 billion UAH (1 USD - 7.96 UAH), or 12% compared with 2009.

UKRINFORM