REUTERS
The International Monetary Fund's mission has revised projections for a decline in Ukraine's GDP from 5.5% to 9% in 2015, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in its statement on discussions with Ukraine on the first review under the Extended Fund Facility arrangement.
"The [Ukrainian] authorities' commitment to the reform program remains strong. All performance criteria for end-March were met and all structural benchmarks due in the spring are on course to be met, albeit some with a delay," IMF Chief for Ukraine Nikolay Gueorguiev said in the statement on May 31.
"This good program implementation has been achieved notwithstanding an exceptionally difficult environment, in part related to the unresolved conflict in the east, which took a heavier than expected toll on the economy in the first quarter of 2015. Accordingly, the mission has revised down growth projections for 2015 to -9 percent and projects end-year inflation at 46 percent," he said.
According to Gueorguiev, inflation was mostly driven by one-off pass-through effects of the large exchange rate depreciation in February as well as the needed energy price increases.
The National Bank of Ukraine earlier said it projected a 9% decline in Ukraine's GDP by the end of 2015. It also forecast inflation at 45% by the end of 2015.