You're reading: Finance Ministry forecasts at least 4.5% growth in Ukraine’s GDP in 2013

The growth of Ukraine's GDP in 2013 will accelerate to at least 4.5%.

The Finance Ministry has made this forecast in the draft national
budget, Deputy Minister Serhiy Rybak said at a meeting of chairpersons
of public councils at the executive bodies with government members.

According to the ministry’s press service, he said that the main
indicators of the 2013 national budget foresee the priorities of fiscal
policy, as well as current trends and forecasts for the development of
the world economy and Ukraine’s economic sector.

Rybak added that the policy of raising social standards, social
payments and benefits would continue in 2013. In particular, the minimum
wage, the wages of the first category employees and childcare subsidies
will rise.

A source in the government previously told Interfax-Ukraine that
currently a discussion is being held on the reasonability of revising
the macroeconomic forecast for 2012 and 2013, which is crucial in the
preparation of the draft budget for 2013. It is assumed that experts
from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission, which started work
in Kyiv last Wednesday, will be involved in this work.

The government in the national budget for 2012 foresaw growth of real
GDP by 3.9% and inflation of 7.9%. Over the first seven months of 2012,
the country’s GDP grew by 2%, with deflation being 0.1%, but GDP is
expected to fall in the third quarter of 2012 compared to the same
period last year.