Ukraine Shows Commendable 5.2% GDP Growth in 2011

KYIV, Ukraine, January 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Ukrainian GDP increased by 5.2 percent in 2011, reported the State Statistics Committee of Ukraine. Amidst the world economic crisis the Ukrainian GDP growth rate had been one of the highest in Europe, commented Ukrainian Prime-Minister Mykola Azarov. In 2011 GDP growth rate among CIS countries reached 4.2 percent; as for the European Union, its GDP in the third quarter of 2011 increased only 0.2 percent, according to Eurostat.

In addition to high GDP growth, Ukrainian economy boasts 4.6 percent growth in price and tariffs - country's lowest in the last eight years. The combination of favorable macroeconomic indexes caused Ukraine's purchasing power parity to grow 15 percent in 2011 compared to the previous year, reported Ukraine's Prime Minister. Notably, according to one of the world's leading specialists in the Ukrainian economy, senior partner of the Peterson Institute for International Economics (New York) - Anders Aslund - Ukraine could double the growth rate and catch up with Turkey's GDP of 9 percent in 2011.

Earlier, financial analytic Eric Nayman (executive partner of Capital Times) predicted that Ukrainian economic growth in 2011 would be the best in Europe. He also pointed out that some drawbacks in the country's economic development can be explained by European debt crisis and slowing down of Chinese economy. Speaking of Ukraine's macroeconomic achievements of 2011, Eric Nayman pointed out the reduction of the inflation rate from 9 to 5 percent. Recently, Forex Club in Ukraine named Ukrainian hryvnia to be one of the most stable currencies in Eastern Europe.

The economic growth of Ukraine in 2012 despite different sources is predicted to be higher than that of the EU. For instance, Ukrainian state budget for 2012 expects 3.9 percent of GDP growth. At the same time, the Resident Representative of IMF in Ukraine Max Alier along with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) projected the maximum GDP growth in Ukraine to reach 3.5 percent in 2012. As for the EU economic growth, the World Bank expects the Eurozone and other advanced economies to grow only by 2.1 percent in 2012 (1.4 percent less than the predicted growth in Ukraine).