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Unemployment rate will make up 9.4% against the projected 8.1%.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has revised downward the forecast for Ukraine's economic and social development in 2020, based on the current world trend caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, from previously projected rise by 3.7% in the gross domestic project (GDP) to a 3.9% fall.
"Major changes in the outlook are the result of a recession in the global economy and the introduction of large-scale measures to contain and combat COVID-19, both in Ukraine and in most countries. As a result, Ukraine's GDP outlook for the current year has been revised – GDP is expected to fall by 3.9% compared to a 3.7% increase projected previously, before the global crisis," the Cabinet's press service said on its website on March 30.
At the same time, the unemployment rate will make up 9.4% against the projected 8.1%, while the fall in real wages will be 0.3%.
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"Meanwhile, economic growth is expected to recover from the second half of the year and accelerate in the coming years. Among the reasons are the high global demand for the products of domestic agro-industrial complex, a much more stable banking system compared to previous crisis episodes, lower prices of imported energy products, and continued structural reforms in cooperation with international partners," the report said.
The updated key macroeconomic indicators of Ukraine's economic and social development for 2020 will be used while revising this year' national budget, the press service added.
As UNIAN reported earlier, the growth of Ukraine's real GDP in 2019 slowed from 3.4% in 2018 to 3.2%, the highest figure over the past seven years.
The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank forecast a global economic downturn over to the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting global crisis.
Experts with the Raiffeisen Bank International say the Ukrainian economy may decline by 3% this year due to the COVID-19 epidemic and related restrictions.
However, they expect that the country's economic growth in 2021 may reach 3%.
Experts believe that in 2019 the economy may fall by 2% in Poland, by 3.5% in Hungary, by 5.2% in the Czech Republic, and by 6% in Slovakia.
In total, the euro area is expected to see a 4% drop in the economy in 2020, the experts say.