REUTERS
Ukraine's Ministry of Economic Development and Trade has kept its forecast for the Ukrainian economy at a 10% GDP decline in 2015, according to First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade Yulia Kovaliv.
"As projected, according to the latest data of the State Statistics Service, GDP grew by 0.7% in the third quarter compared to the second quarter of 2015, while it declined by 7% year-over-year, against "minus" 14.6% in the second quarter of 2015. We keep our GDP forecast unchanged, expecting a 10% decline in 2015," Kovaliv wrote on Facebook.
She stressed the improved dynamics were thanks to the slackening of hostilities in the east of Ukraine and the strengthening of macroeconomic stability through fiscal consolidation, strict monetary policy, loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a foreign debt swap deal and more active economic reforms.
According to the deputy minister, the third quarter figures indicate the end of the recession phase in the economy.
As UNIAN reported earlier, the State Statistics Service reported the GDP decline slowed to 7% in the third quarter of 2015 compared with the same period last year (at constant 2010 prices), against a 14.6% decline in the previous quarter.
The Cabinet of Ministers considers three main scenarios for Ukrainian economic developments in 2015, with the country's GDP expected to drop within a range of 5.5%-11.9%.
The National Bank of Ukraine predicts the country's GDP will decrease by 7.5% in 2015.
Ukraine's major lenders – the IMF, the World Bank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development – predict a 9-11.5% contraction of the Ukrainian economy in 2015.