Ukraine’s war-battered economy climbed for the first time on an annual basis since Russia invaded last year as it clawed back from a steep drop and spending rose among consumers adjusting to the conflict.
(Bloomberg) — Ukraine’s war-battered economy climbed for the first time on an annual basis since Russia invaded last year as it clawed back from a steep drop and spending rose among consumers adjusting to the conflict.
After plummeting in the months after the Kremlin’s February 2022 attack and further in 2023, gross domestic product jumped 19.5% year-on-year in the second quarter, according to data published by the State Statistics Service.
Beyond the base effect, GDP was boosted by a pickup in domestic consumption as Ukrainians acclimated to a sense of relative stability after the opening months of the war, which has devastated the country’s infrastructure and throttled a grain-heavy export economy.
“People are getting used to it,” said Olena Bilan, chief economist at Kyiv-based investment bank Dragon Capital. “Life goes on and amid the troubles, one wants to enjoy oneself by making a purchase or taking a vacation.”
The statistics office delayed the second-quarter GDP report after it was hit by a cyber-attack in July.
Ukraine’s economy may grow 2.9% this year, according to a central bank projection that’ll be revised next month. That forecast is a crucial measure for payments on the nation’s GDP warrants, which mature in 2041, since they’re linked to the country’s economic performance.
In general the government has to pay on these securities if annual output surpasses 3%, though authorities are seeking to overhaul its international debt in 2024, following a two-year standstill imposed in August 2022 due to the war.
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