FINANCIAL AND ECONOMIC SECURITY OF THE STATE IN THE CONTEXT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS AND COMPOSITE ASSESSMENT

Abstract

The article studies the problem of ensuring the financial and economic security of the state in the context of the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. An assessment methodology based on the composite index of financial and economic security in the context of the SDS (FES-SDG Index) has been developed, which integrates four sub-indices: macroeconomic stability, financial security, foreign economic risk resilience, and integration with the SDGs. As a result of a comparative analysis of data for 2020–2024, it was found that Ukraine demonstrates the lowest level of financial and economic security among the studied countries (FES-SDG Index = 0.3444). A significant lag was recorded in all blocks, especially in macroeconomic stability (0.0880) and integration with the SDGs (0.0904). The highest scores were shown by the Czech Republic (0.8515) and Poland (0.7243), which confirms the effectiveness of their sustainability model. The study revealed Ukraine's key problems: high economic volatility, significant volume of non-performing loans, low financial market depth, insufficient investment in innovation, weak corruption control, and limited green transformation. At the same time, a positive trend of resumption of GDP growth in 2023–2024 was noted. Based on the results obtained, a system of priority recommendations aimed at increasing the level of financial and economic security of Ukraine has been developed, in particular: fiscal consolidation, cleaning bank balance sheets, export diversification, a significant increase in R&D spending, and strengthening anti-corruption policy. Taking into account the FES-SDG Index, it is recommended to develop a National Strategy for Improving Financial and Economic Security of Ukraine by 2035, in which target index values are established. Annual monitoring of the index will allow assessing the effectiveness of government measures and making timely adjustments. The implementation of the proposed recommendations will allow not only to reduce the gap with the countries of Central Europe, but also to create a stable basis for the post-war recovery and sustainable development of Ukraine.