REUTERS
A rapid recovery is expected in the second half of 2020.
S&P Global Ratings predicts a 5.5% decline in Ukraine's economy in 2020 with its subsequent recovery by 5% in 2021, and further by 3% in 2022.
An economic recovery in 2020 will offset most of the current losses, Sovereign Credit Analyst at Standard & Poor's Karen Vartapetov said while presenting a study on the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region during an online conference.
According to the expert, a rapid recovery will begin in the second half of 2020 and a significant GDP growth is forecast in 2021.
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Vartapetov also said the level of Ukraine's public debt in 2020 would be over 60% of GDP, which is more than 10 percentage points higher than in 2019.
The expert said Ukraine, together with Belarus, Azerbaijan and Georgia, were the countries in the CIS region that were most in need for external financial assistance.
According to the study, Ukraine's credit rating will be updated on September 11.
As UNIAN reported earlier, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) predicts Ukraine's GDP will fall by 4.5% in 2020 as a result of global coronavirus-related shocks and following slower industrial growth recorded in late 2019 to early 2020.
National Bank Governor Yakiv Smolii, in turn, forecasts the Ukrainian economy, after falling this year by 5%, could grow by 4% annually in the years to come.