Ukrainian finance minister sees GDP shrinking by 33-35% in 2022

MOSCOW. Nov 15 (Interfax) - Ukraine's GDP could contract by 33-35% in 2022, Ukrainian media reported, quoting Finance Minister Sergei Marchenko.

"Our estimates roughly coincide with the estimates of international partners. Gross domestic product losses will be around 33-35%," Marchenko said at a briefing on Monday that was posted on YouTube.

He added that "this is more than 1 trillion hryvnia in absolute figures."

After a better than expected third quarter, Ukraine's Economy Ministry said it might improve the forecast for the contraction of GDP in 2022 to 30% from 33.2%. However, when the draft state budget was being finalized for the second reading at the end of October, the forecast for the real GDP drop this year was revised to 32%.

Marchenko also told reporters on Monday that Ukraine expects to receive about $4.8 billion of external financing in November and $3 billion in December.

"If this was, say, September or October, I'd say that our situation is fairly positive and optimistic. But since December is the last month of the year and, as a rule, December expenditures are the highest and higher than the monthly average, of course right now we're looking for every possibility to get through November and December painlessly and carry out all necessary expenditures and ensure the financing of the deficit," Marchenko said.

Speaking about financing for the first quarter of 2023, he said the situation is complicated by the fact that tax revenues are lower at the beginning of the year and there are issues with the "predictability of foreign aid."