Ukraine's debt-to-GDP ratio decreases to about 55.8% in April

The ratio of Ukraine's state and state-guaranteed debt to GDP in April 2020 decreased to about 55.8% compared to March 2020.

Natalia Leshchenko, an economist of CASE Ukraine, cited State Treasury data that the amount of Ukraine's state and state-guaranteed debt in the hryvnia equivalent decreased by 2.6%, to UAH 2.196 trillion, while the amount in dollar terms increased by 5.4%, to US$81.43 billion.

Moreover, the amount of debt per capita (resident population) is approximately UAH 52,720 (US$1,959 at the current forex rate) per person, and UAH 147,903 (US$5,496) per employee.

"The result of April can be called the lull before the storm. The Ukrainian economy will shrink because of quarantine restrictions to overcome the pandemic and the global crisis, and the steepest decline is expected in the second quarter of 2020. On the other hand, the government will begin to borrow more actively," she said.

Read alsoIMF's Stand-By Arrangement with Ukraine to be approved soon – phone talk with Zelensky

As UNIAN reported earlier with reference to the Finance Ministry, Ukraine's state debt in April grew by 1.3% in dollar terms, to US$81.4 billion. Calculated in the hryvnia equivalent, state debt for this period shrank by 2.7%, to UAH 2.2 trillion.

The country's state and state-guaranteed debt in 2019 increased by 7.7% in dollar terms, or by US$6.05 billion, to US$84.36 billion.

In the hryvnia equivalent, state debt for the year decreased by 7.8%, or UAH 170.17 billion, to UAH 1.998 trillion.

Ukraine's debt-to-GDP ratio as of the beginning of 2020 was 50%.

The World Bank in April forecast that Ukraine's debt-to-GDP ratio in 2020 might grow to 59% and bounce back to 55.4% in 2021 and further shrink to 50.7% of GDP in 2022.