The NBU's Solohub says the economic decline will be steeper than expected / Photo from UNIAN
The NBU's deputy governor says the situation could be worse than expected.
The National Bank of Ukraine has revised its forecast for the country's economy, projecting it will shrink by 6-7% in 2020 against the previously expected 5%.
"Based on the decline seen in the first quarter along with indicators of industrial production and transportation in April, I think the decline may be more serious than expected," the Ukrainian economic news portal Ekonomichna Pravda quoted NBU Deputy Governor Dmytro Solohub as saying.
Read alsoGDP slides 0.5% in Ukraine – central bank
"Accordingly, if we extrapolate the dynamics to the entire year, we could speak about a decline by 6-7% rather than 5%, as it was until now. But under these circumstances, it's not such a big difference – everything is moving approximately within the same scenario," he said.
As UNIAN reported earlier, the Central Bank previously predicted that Ukraine's GDP would decrease by 11% in the second quarter of 2020.
The NBU noted that the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the Ukrainian economy will be relatively short-term, but rather strong. Quarantine-related measures have already reduced business activity, consumption and employment. Reducing global demand also limits the country's export opportunities.