Decline in Ukraine's GDP will be lower than for many countries in region - World Bank

The World Bank has predicted that Ukraine's economy is expected to decline by 5.5% in 2020, which is lower than for many countries in the region, the World Bank office in Ukraine has reported on its Facebook page.

"Ukraine's economy entered the COVID-19 crisis with sufficient macroeconomic buffers owing to prudent monetary and fiscal policies over the previous years. GDP is expected to decline by 5.5% in 2020, which is lower than for many countries in the region," the post reads.

At the same time, the World Bank expects the recovery to be mild at 1.5% in 2021 and 3.1% in 2022 due to a slower implementation of structural reforms.

"Maintaining the reform momentum is critical for addressing bottlenecks to investment and safeguarding macroeconomic sustainability," the World Bank said.

According to preliminary government forecasts, Ukraine's GDP this year will shrink by 4.8%.

op