Ukraine reduces state and government-guaranteed debt – finance minister

Ukraine has reduced the state and government-guaranteed debt to less than 60% of GDP, Finance Minister Oksana Markarova has stated.

“We have reduced the [state and government-guaranteed] debt this year to less than 60% [of GDP]. And in our plans we hope to reduce it to a figure that will be less than 50% next year,” Markarova said during Government Question Hour meeting held in the Verkhovna Rada on Friday, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

She noted that any country takes loans to solve its development problems or cover the budget deficit.

“The state and government-guaranteed debt of Ukraine was influenced by various factors, including the recent currency fluctuations after the crisis in the years 2013-2015, which at one point brought our debt to 80% of GDP. This, of course, was a big problem, which today is on the way to a stable solution,” Markova said.

As of October 31, 2019, Ukraine’s state and government-guaranteed debt amounted to UAH 2,045.4 billion or USD 81.8 billion. The share of domestic debt made up 40.6%, external debt – 59.4%.

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