You're reading: U.S. experts: Ukraine 6th among countries most likely to default

Ukraine occupies 6th place among the 18 countries most likely to default, TSN.ua has reported, with reference to a ranking compiled by U.S. business news site Business Insider.

The statement notes that such consequences will be triggered by the rapid growth in external debt in the near future. In their assessment, experts took into account the size of external debt, as well as financial and political stability in a certain country.

The list is topped by Venezuela, where oil production is down, endangering the government’s ability to pay its debts.

In second place is Greece, which recently faced another round of protests over the governments austerity measures, and third place is occupied by Argentina, which is yet again struggling with high inflation, years after the country faced crisis.

In fourth place is Ireland, which continues to struggle with its banking sector crisis, which has now burdened the government with non-performing loans and an EU-IMF bailout. Fifth place is occupied by Portugal, which looks to be well short of EUR 20 billion it needs to pay its bills in 2011.

Ukraine is sixth in the list. The reason for this is a large amount of external debt and slower economic growth. World Bank experts earlier estimated Ukraine’s external debt at 82% of GDP.

The ranking also includes Libya, Egypt, Bahrain, as well as Spain, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Lithuania and Hungary. All these countries have problems with the banking sector, inflation, and political stability.