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Ukraine: country aims at cutting debt to 40% of GDP

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, 12 NOV - Ukraine aims at cutting its debt to GDP ratio from the current 52 per cent "below 40 per cent in two years," said Ukraine's finance minister, Oksana Markarova, the specialized portal Emerging Europe reported today, quoting information from local media. "We rapidly increased our debt from 2006 to 2008, then it also grew rapidly from 2013 to 2014. We need to move away from this," Markorova added, stressing that Ukraine wants "the opportunity of living like European countries," without increasing the debt, if not needed. Markarova added that Ukraine has set also the target for a "deficit-free budget" in the near future, with the deficit reaching 3.2 per cent this year and 2 per cent in 2020." According to data from the International Monetary Fund, Ukraine currently has one of the highest debt to GDP ratios in Eastern Europe, but the ratio is still much lower than the one of several EU member countries, such as Portugal, Belgium, Spain, France, Greece or Italy. (ANSA).