The United States of America will provide an additional $4.5 billion to the Ukrainian government, bringing the total support provided since the Russian invasion in February to $8.5 billion, the US Agency for International Development announced, as cited by The Guardian.

The funding, agreed with the US Treasury Department through the World Bank, will come to the Ukrainian government in installments, starting with the payment of $3 billion in August, the Agency for International Development USAid said.

This followed earlier transfers of $1.7 billion in July and $1.3 billion in June.

Washington has also provided billions of dollars in military support and is soon planning a new $1 billion arms package.

U.S. funds are intended to help the Ukrainian government maintain critical functions, including social and financial assistance to a growing poor population, disabled children, and millions of internally displaced persons, while the war continues.

Ukrainian officials estimate the country faces a budget deficit of $5 billion a month — or 2.5 percent of prewar gross domestic product — due to war spending and declining tax revenues. Economists say this will increase Ukraine’s annual deficit to 25 percent of GDP, up from 3.5 percent before the conflict.

The World Bank estimates that by the end of 2023, 55 percent of Ukrainians will live in poverty as a result of the war and the large number of displaced people, compared to 2.5 percent before the war began.

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