You're reading: Yatsenyuk says macroeconomic forecast for 2015 could be worsened

The forecast for the average annual hryvnia to U.S. dollar exchange rate of Hr 21.7 per $1 and 26 percent inflation, stipulated in the government' s changes to the 2015 national budget, is an extremely optimistic scenario, Ukraine Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has said.

“This scenario will be reviewed,” he said in an interview with leading TV channels.

The premier stressed that the war and the loss of 20 percent of the economy affects the macroeconomic forecast.

“The only solution is another hard package of tough reforms, financial aid, and raising international investment,” Yatsenyuk said.

He said that this concerns investment from international financial institutions as private investors will not invest in a country threatened by Russian aggression.

As reported, inflation in Ukraine accelerated to 24.9 percent, while GDP fell by 6.7-6.9 percent. The 2015 national budget, adopted at the end of last year, is built on a conservative development scenario, providing for a decline in GDP of 4.3 percent with inflation being 13.1 percent; however the government has worsened its forecast for GDP decline to 5.5 percent.