Impact of crisis on Ukraine’s balance of payment to be from neutral to possible positive – NBU

The impact of the crisis on Ukraine's balance of payment will be from neutral to possible positive due to the large decline in prices of energy, which prevails in Ukrainian imports and a slight fall in food prices, which account for 50% of the country's overall exports, Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Oleh Churiy has said.

"As for the balance of payments, that is, export-import, the impact will be from neutral to, possibly, even positive. And this is due to the fact that energy prices fell very much. The price of oil, for example, plunged by 30%, and the share of energy imports of our balance of payments is approximately 30%, that is, Ukraine will pay much less for energy imports," Churiy said during an online press briefing in Kyiv on Tuesday, adding that lower prices for food predominant in Ukrainian exports became lower.

He added that the deficit of the balance of payments last year, which amounted to 0.5% of GDP, was significantly less than the deficit in the pre-crisis 2013 year, which reached 10% of GDP.

According to Churiy, the impact of the crisis on GDP growth is likely to be negative. "At the same time, those legislative acts that the Verkhovna Rada today voted to overcome the crisis in the economy will have a positive effect," he said.

Source: www.en.interfax.com.ua