NBU keeps economic growth forecast for 2016 unchanged

The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has remained the economic growth forecast for 2016 unchanged at the level of 1.1%, NBU Governor Valeria Gontareva has said.

“The NBU economic growth forecast remains unchanged at 1.1%,” Gontareva said at a press briefing, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

According to her, the NBU expects that the GDP growth will be 2.5% in 2017, and 3.5% in 2018.

Also, Gontareva noted that in the absence of significant unforeseen events, inflation by the end of 2016 is expected at 2% plus or minus 3 percentage.

“Annual inflation is expected to follow an erratic path throughout 2017. In Q1-Q3 2017, inflation might exceed 12%, reflecting a statistical base effect and a high contribution from administered prices. As these effects wane, annual inflation is expected to return to the target in Q4 2016. Therefore, the inflation targets in 2017 and 2018 at the level of 8% and 6% respectively are quite real,” Gontareva said.

iy