Volodymyr Zelensky has won 73.22% of the vote and Petro Poroshenko has received 24.45% of the vote, Ukraine’s Central Election Commission (CEC) said, after counting 100% of the ballot papers cast in the April 21 second round of the presidential election.
Ukrainians expect from a new president in the first 100 days of his activity a price lowering in utility tariffs, the submission to parliament of bills on lifting immunity from deputies, judges and the president, as well as the start or acceleration of investigations into the most resonant corruption crimes.
The Ministry of Economic Development and Trade has worsened the forecast for the growth of Ukraine’s real gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019 to 2.8% from 3%. The World Bank has worsened the forecast for the growth of Ukraine’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019 to 2.7% from 2.9%, according to the April review of the World Bank “Europe and Central Asia Economic Update, Spring 2019: Financial Inclusion.”
The growth of Ukraine’s real GDP in 2019 will slow down to 2.5%, but as the level of political uncertainty decreases by 2020, economic growth will resume to 3%, according to the macroeconomic forecast of HSBC.
Ukraine’s GDP growth in 2019 will slow down from 3.3% last year to 2.7% this year and 2.6% next year with the hryvnia exchange rate weakening to UAH 30.5 per $1 by the end of 2019 and UAH 31.5/$1 by the end of 2020, Morgan Stanley bank predicts.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) uses the average annual forex rate set at UAH 28.681 per U.S. dollar for 2019 and UAH 29.958 per U.S. dollar for 2020 when converting GDP in hryvnias to U.S. dollars in its updated April 2019 World Economic Outlook, which is almost the same as in the previous outlook issued last October.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) plans in 2019 to increase the volume of investment in the Ukrainian economy to $1 billion, head of the Ukrainian office of the EBRD Marina Petrov has stated.
The deficit of Ukraine’s foreign trade in goods in January and February 2019 grew by 4.5% compared with January and February 2018, to $760 million, the State Statistics Service said.
Inflation in Ukraine in March 2019 was 0.9% compared to 0.5% in February and 1% in January, the State Statistics Service of Ukraine has reported.
The deficit of the national budget of Ukraine in January-March 2019 amounted to UAH 26.166 billion, in particular the general fund deficit was UAH 39.272 billion with the target being UAH 43.54 billion, according to data released by the State Treasury Service.
The deficit of the national budget of Ukraine in the first quarter of 2019 was UAH 25.3 billion with the approved annual figure of UAH 90 billion, such preliminary data of the State Treasury Service were voiced by the Ministry of Finance.
The aggregate state (direct) and state-guaranteed debt of Ukraine in March 2019 increased by 0.7%, or by $0.54 billion compared with February 2019, to $78.78 billion, according to the website of the Ministry of Finance.
Ukraine’s state (direct) debt in January-March 2019 fell by 0.05% or UAH 0.9 billion, to UAH 1.859 trillion, the Finance Ministry of Ukraine has reported on its Facebook page.
Industrial prices in Ukraine in March decreased by 1% after rising by 1% in February and January, the State Statistics Service has said.
Industrial production in Ukraine in March 2019 increased by 2.1% compared with March 2018, which is better than the figures in January and February, when a decline was recorded, the State Statistics Service has reported.
The transport companies of Ukraine in January-March 2019 reduced passenger traffic by 6% compared with January-March 2018, to 1.061 billion people, the State Statistics Service has reported. Transport enterprises of Ukraine in January-March 2019 increased cargo transportation by 8.9% compared to January-March 2018, to 163.3 million tonnes.
The volume of construction work performed in Ukraine in March 2019 increased by 29.7% compared with March 2018, while the indicator in February 2019 compared with February 2018 grew by 19.4%, according to statistics.
Retail trade turnover in Ukraine in comparable prices in January-March 2019 increased by 7.4% compared to January-March 2018, to UAH 235.804 billion the State Statistics Service has reported.
