Ukrainian Minister for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture Ihor Petrashko has said the domestic banking system should provide businesses with at least UAH 400 billion (US$14.9 billion) in loans annually, so that the country's economy could grow by 8%.
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"The Ukrainian [banking] system should issue at least UAH 400 billion in loans to entrepreneurs each year, so that [the economy of] our country could grow by 8%. There can be any program. The economy will fail to rise by 8% or 9% without the UAH 400 billion," he said on a Ukrainian TV channel on May 5.
As UNIAN reported earlier, the growth of Ukraine's real GDP in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2019 was 1.5% year-over-year (y-o-y), having slowed from 4.1% in Q3 2019 y-o-y.
The country's GDP in January-February 2020 dropped by 0.2%.
Ukraine's key lender, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), forecasts that Ukraine's economy may decline by 7.7% in 2020.
