The National Bank of Ukraine believes that to support the economy, it is worth focusing on targeted measures to restrict imports: taxes on electric cars and parcels worth up to €150.
As stated in the NBU report, Ukraine’s current account deficit widened in 2025, which is a direct result of defense and reconstruction needs.
The regulator noted that in January-September 2025, the current account deficit reached $24.9 billion. This dynamics was primarily due to an increase in the trade deficit in goods due to a significant increase in imports.
“However, unlike periods of relative peacetime, such growth is predominantly investment in nature, in particular related to strategic investments in security and recovery. In contrast, consumer imports are not growing as much (8% y/y for January-August 2025), and their share in total imports is even decreasing. Therefore, the increase in the trade deficit is not associated with either a consumer boom or low competitiveness of domestic goods,” the report says.
NBU experts also noted that possible options for correcting this gap may include reducing non-priority expenditures, as well as introducing taxation of non-critical areas in wartime without significant negative consequences for the economy. “It is worth focusing on targeted measures to restrict imports: taxes on parcels worth up to €150 and other non-priority imports – electric cars, luxury items, etc.,” the report for October 2025 said.
