IMF maintains GDP growth forecast for Ukraine in 2016, 2017

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ukraine`s key lender, has maintained its GDP growth forecasts for Ukraine at 1.5% in 2016 and at 2.5% in 2017.

”Decisive policy actions in the past two years have led to a dramatic reduction in external and internal imbalances. Inflation has been successfully brought down, the central bank`s international reserves have increased substantially, and growth is expected to reach 1.5% in 2016 and pick up to about 2.5% in 2017,” IMF experts said in a statement on November 18 at the conclusion of the IMF mission after their work in Kyiv.

The IMF says that the strength and durability of the recovery, however, depend crucially on the implementation of ambitious reforms to support Ukraine`s transition to a full-fledged market economy.

”Per capita GDP (in PPP terms) in Ukraine is still very low—just 20% of the EU average, the second lowest level of all Central and Eastern European countries. Faster sustainable and inclusive growth is needed to recover lost ground and improve living standards,” the IMF experts concluded.

The mission worked in Kyiv on November 3-17, to initiate discussions on the third review of the authorities` economic reform program supported under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement. The mission also held discussions for the 2016 Article IV consultation with Ukraine.

As UNIAN reported earlier, the IMF said in November 2016 that it kept its forecast of economic growth in Ukraine for 2017 at 2.5% amid 8.5% inflation year-on-year, according to the IMF`s November 2016 Regional Economic Issues (REI) report. The IMF also maintained its forecast of Ukraine`s GDP growth for 2016 at 1.5% with 13.5% inflation.

According to the released report, the Fund predicts Ukraine`s export growth in 2017 by at least 3.6% of GDP with a decrease in the external debt to 136.3% of GDP from 141.3% of GDP in 2016.

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