Ukraine should not count on economic growth in the near future - at best it will remain at its current level, but another decline is likely.
Ukrainian economic expert Vsevolod Stepanyuk stated this on the Internet channel “Voice TV,” a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
According to Stepanyuk, the pandemic and the worsening military-political situation are leading to a catastrophic drop in the purchasing power of the population.
“If you look at the economy, we see a continuation of the decline in the third quarter. Although there were no lockdowns in the third quarter. The economy still has inertia, and it fell by just over 3%. This immediately belies the budget figures, which suggest growth of 4% this year, even 4,6%. The budget revenue figures are based on this figure. It is clear that there will be no growth this year of 4,6% - God grant that there will not be another fall based on the results of the year.
Regarding the economy, we see a complete crisis in the service sector, because during the lockdown, first of all, the service sector and the public catering sector, the trade sector suffer...
The purchasing power of the population is falling catastrophically. And we see this not only in the decrease in sales, but also in the decrease in imports...
We must not forget that the political situation around Ukraine has recently worsened. Therefore, there is absolutely no need to talk about any growth, despite even some attempts to pass some laws. I read them - it’s just some kind of horror from the point of view of corruption. But, nevertheless, the authorities believe that they are stimulating some kind of investment in Ukraine,” Stepanyuk said.