World Bank forecast: Ukrainian economy to grow by 1% in 2013
2013-06-13 15:35:03
The World Bank has predicted that the growth of the Ukrainian economy in 2013 will remain low - at 1%, but still higher than last year.
This is stated in a new World Bank report "Global Economic Prospects, June 2013," which was released on Wednesday, a Ukrinform correspondent reported.
"Growth in Ukraine is forecast to remain weak at 1.0 percent in 2013, up from 0.2 percent in 2012. The increase will be supported by robust consumer demand with increasing retail sales, while industry continues to contract and global steel prices remain weak," reads the report.
World Bank experts noted that the overall outlook remains challenging, with a high fiscal deficit, persistent current account deficit, high external debt, and the currencies de-facto peg to the dollar and declining foreign reserves all sources of concern.
The bank also believes that reforms that may stem from ongoing discussions with the EU/IMF and Russia will be crucial factors determining the shape of growth going forward.
According to the report, the growth of the Ukrainian economy is currently projected at 3% in 2014 and at 4% in 2015.
The current account deficit in Ukraine in 2012 was estimated at 8.4% (compared to 7.8% in the January report), in 2013 this figure is projected at 7.4% (6.6% in the January report), in 2014 - 6.8% (5.6% in January), and in 2015 - 6.2% (4.7% in January).
As reported, in a previous similar report released in January this year, the World Bank forecast that Ukraine's GDP at market prices would grow by 2.2% in 2013, by 3.2% in 2014, and by 3.5% in 2015, whereas the growth of the domestic economy in 2012 was estimated at 0.5% (compared to the current 0.2%).