KYIV, Aug 20 - The Finance Ministry has announced an increase in the need for external financing of the state budget for next year from $22.7 billion set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program to $35 billion, Deputy Minister Olha Zykova reported.

"The situation during this year, taking into account the activity of the war and the additional military need, which we covered exclusively from domestic resources, showed that this gap will now potentially be expanded by $12 billion, to $15 billion," she said.