The deficit of Ukraine’s foreign trade in goods in January-November 2020 decreased 58.6% compared to January-November 2019, to $3.897 billion from $9.417 billion, the State Statistics Service reported on Thursday.
According to its data, the export of goods from Ukraine for the reporting period compared to the same period in 2019 fell by 3.5%, to $44.347 billion, imports narrowed by 12.9%, to $48.244 billion.
The State Statistics Service said that in November, compared with October 2020, the seasonally adjusted export volume increased 2.5%, to $4.374 billion, imports grew by 4.3%, to $4.791 billion.
The seasonally adjusted foreign trade balance in November 2020 posted a deficit and amounted to $0.417 billion, a month earlier it also showed a deficit being $0.323 billion.
The ratio of exports to imports in January-April of this year amounted to 0.92 (in January-November-2019 it was 0.83).
The State Statistics Service said that foreign trade operations were carried out with partners from 232 countries.
Domestic pharmaceutical manufacturers hope to simplify the procedure and conditions for state registration of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), which will allow maintaining the volume of drug production in conditions of API shortage, said President of the Association of Manufacturers of Medications of Ukraine (AMMU) Petro Bahriy.
“At one of the meetings in the Ministry of Health, it was decided to simplify the procedure and conditions for state registration of APIs that are part of all medicines, due to the aggravation of the problems of supplying raw materials for the production of drugs to Ukraine due to the introduction of restrictions on export by main suppliers (China, India), in case of replacement of the API manufacturer for the registration of alternative API suppliers in order to avoid a shortage of necessary medicines,” he said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
The head of the AMMU also noted that domestic pharmaceutical manufacturers hope that the possibilities of using mechanisms of state guarantees, state orders and state reserves for the procurement of medicines will be considered.
At the same time, Bahriy believes that one of the real steps of the state, which would allow solving the problem of the deficit of imported APIs, could be an appeal by the Ukrainian embassies to the governments of the countries in which APIs are produced.
“We need to consider real steps. This can be help from our embassies, which can appeal to the governments of the states where APIs are produced, for example, China or India, so that they somehow pay attention to Ukraine, increase quotas. Although we understand that the effect of this is unlikely will take place, since the United States, the EU, and the whole world, which is in line, turn to these governments,” he said.
The deficit of Ukraine’s foreign trade in goods in January-November 2020 halved compared to the same period in 2019, to $3.93 billion from $8.15 billion, in November the foreign trade deficit amounted to $590 million compared to $360 million in deficit in October and $860 million in deficit in November last year. According to the data of the State Customs Service, export of goods from Ukraine for the specified period compared to the same period in 2019 decreased by 3.51%, to $44.45 billion, import by 10.77%, to $48.38 billion.
The State Customs Service clarified that in November this year, compared with October, the volume of exports increased by 2.21%, to $4.73 billion, imports by 6.75%, to $5.32 billion.
At the same time, compared to November 2019, exports increased by 9.15%, imports by 2.43% in monetary terms.
According to the customs data, China remains the largest trade partner of Ukraine in January-November with a trade turnover of $43.9 billion, a deficit of almost $15.6 billion. It is followed by the Russian Federation (a turnover of $39.7 billion, a negative balance of $12.97 billion) and Germany (trade turnover is $28.3 billion, a deficit of $11.86 billion), according to the State Customs Service.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has reduced the deficit in the draft national budget for 2021 from 6% to 5.5% of GDP, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has said.
“An opportunity has been found to reduce the budget deficit to GDP from 6%, as proposed at first reading, to 5.5%,” he said at an extraordinary government meeting on Thursday.
Thus, the deficit was reduced by UAH 24 billion, to UAH 246.35 billion.
In the initial draft, state budget revenues were determined at the level of UAH 1.071 trillion, expenses – UAH 1.331 trillion. The new wording of the bill provides for UAH 1.092 trillion in revenues and UAH 1.328 trillion in expenses.
As reported, the state budget for 2020 provides for a deficit of 7.5% of GDP.
The deficit of Ukraine’s foreign trade in goods in January-August 2020 decreased 59.4% compared to January-August 2019, to $2.399 billion from $5.915 billion, the State Statistics Service reported on Thursday.
According to its data, the export of goods from Ukraine for the reporting period compared to the same period in 2019 decreased 6.6%, to $30.843 billion, imports fell by 14.6%, to $33.242 billion.
The State Statistics Service said that in August 2020, compared with July 2020, the seasonally adjusted volume of exports increased 5%, to $4.068 billion, imports grew by 1.6%, to $4.462 billion.
The seasonally adjusted foreign trade balance in August 2020 also saw a deficit and amounted to $393.6 million, which, however, is better than the previous month ($517.2 million). The export coverage ratio of imports in January-August this year amounted to 0.93 (in January-August 2019 it was 0.85).
The State Statistics Service said that foreign trade operations were carried out with partners from 225 countries.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) expects an actual budget deficit in 2020 at the level of 6-6.5% of GDP instead of the 7.5% foreseen in the forecast, Deputy Governor of the NBU Dmytro Sologub has said.
“This year’s budget deficit is set at 7.5% of GDP. This is absolutely correct from the countercyclical point of view. But, apparently, the actual deficit will be lower… We estimate that the budget deficit will be around 6 -6.5% of GDP,” he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
According to him, the budget deficit fell below the forecast due to the strong underfunding of existing expenses. “Catching up on them in recent months will not be easy given the funding opportunities,” he said.
