The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has maintained its economic growth forecast for Ukraine in 2016 at 1.5% and inflation at 15.1%, the Fund said in its Report on Regional Economic Issues covering Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe.
GDP growth and inflation rate projections for 2017 have also remained unchanged, being 2.5% and 11%, respectively, the report said.
IMF experts predict that Ukraine`s commodity exports this year are expected to decline, but the contraction will not be as sharp as last year, amounting to 4.1%. While, in 2017 exports are expected to grow by 3.6%.
The IMF forecasts total external debt-to-GDP ratio in Ukraine in 2016 at 152.3%, and it is expected to shrink to 140.3% in 2017. Public debt is projected at 92.3-92.8% of the country`s GDP in 2016 and 2017.
As UNIAN reported earlier, in early April, the IMF worsened its forecasts for the Ukrainian economy, slashing Ukraine`s GDP growth by 0.5% and increasing inflation projections by 3.1%. The IMF forecast was more optimistic compared to projections of the Ukrainian Economy Ministry. It forecasts the economy will grow by 1% this year and inflation will hit 13.1%.
As was reported earlier, IMF experts are arriving in Ukraine on May 10 to discuss the economic situation.