Upharmacia January 2018 | Page 5

E CON OM Y E CO N O M IC NEWS IN JA NUARY 2018 EBRD Invests EUR 800 Mio In Ukraine In 2017 Ukraine’s State Budget 2018 envisages the def icit at the level of UAH 81.8 bn (2.5% of GDP), inf lation of 9%, the GDP growth forecast is 3.0% y-o-y. The exchange rate is expected to be USD/UAH 29.3 at the year’s end. The document also provided increase of the minimal salary from UAH 3,200 to UAH 3,723. Read more Ukrainian Banks Remain Optimistic About The Growth Of Lending To SMEs & Public In The Next 12 M Ukrainian banks maintain positive expectations regarding the growth in lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), as well as the population over the next 12 months, according to the report “Credit Conditions Survey” posted on the website of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU). According to the central bank, 72% of the banks surveyed expect an increase in the corporate loan portfolio over the next 12 months, with the corresponding expectations remaining for the f ifth consecutive quarter. Read more NBU to permit repatriation of dividends for 2017, relax limits for early repayment of loans The NBU pursuing the policy of currency liberalization seeks to permit repatriation of dividends for 2017 and relax limits for early repayment of foreign loans, the central bank has reported on its website. “The closest priority in this area [liberalization of the currency market] is the permission to repatriate dividends for 2017... In addition, we can consider the possibility of further easing restrictions on early repayment of loans,” Director of the open markets department at the NBU Serhiy Ponomarenko said. consumer demand, delayed cooperation with the IMF etc. Read more The Gov Will Create A System To Protect The Interests Of Investors, Ukrainian President said at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The new authority, the National Bureau for Financial Investigation, is supposed to eliminate the inf luence of other law enforcement agencies on business. Amendments to the Tax Code, designed to free from taxation funds that would be left in the country, are also envisaged. Read more The Industrial Production Decreased by 0.1% In 2017 vs 2016 Utilities and mining reduced by 6.5% and 5.8% y-o-y, respectively. Agricultural production downed 2.7% y-o-y. Deepest decline was in Luhansk region (44% y-o-y), Khmelnitsky region (17.3% y-o-y) and Donetsk (16.2% y-o-y). Read more Ukraine’s President Nominated Yakiv Smolii to the position of the NBU Head Previous Head Valeria Gontareva announced her resignation in Apr 2017, which is still waiting to be approved. Read more Poverty Level Has Decreased From 17% In 2016 To 12% In 2017, Kyiv International Institute of Sociology stated. Read more Read more NBU Has Worsened The Inflation Forecast For 2018 from 7.3% to 8.9% due to growth in prices of raw products, a higher Issue 29  Jan 2018 page 03