Ukraine sets up new advisory council on economic policy with renowned economists

MOSCOW. Aug 3 (Interfax) - Nobel Prize-winning economist and University of Chicago Professor Roger Myerson, Harvard University Professor and former Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund Kenneth Rogoff, and Stockholm Institute for Transition Economics (SITE) Director Torbjorn Becker have joined the Advisory Council on Economic Policy of Ukraine, which will be headed by Yury Gorodnichenko, a professor in the Department of Economics at the University of California, Berkeley.

"The important objective of the Advisory Council is to provide permanent recommendations on how to draft an efficient policy for Ukraine's recovery," Ukrainian media quoted Ukrainian First Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Yulia Sviridenko as saying following the founding meeting of this council that took place on August 2.

Sviridenko noted that Ukraine was striving to create a steady macroeconomic environment for developing the human capital, drawing foreign direct investment and sustainable economic growth, the Economy Ministry said in a statement.

The Advisory Council also included Senior Vice President for International Institutions Engagement at Mastercard Rory MacFarquhar, President of the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) Beatrice Weder di Mauro, professor of economics and political science at the University of California, Berkeley Gerard Roland, and President of the Kiev School of Economics and Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Pittsburgh Timofey Milovanov.

The Council will focus on making recommendations on Ukraine's recovery architecture, including fiscal and monetary policy, the situation on the labor market, and government regulations, Gorodnichenko said. The recommendations will also be taken into account when drafting Ukraine's Plan for the Ukraine Facility program which was initiated by the European Union for 2024-2027.

As of today, international economists, who are members of the Council, have drawn up a survey on Ukraine's post-crisis macroeconomic architecture, containing recommendations for reforms and other measures required to ensure the country's economic recovery and development.

As reported, in April 2020, about a month after the change of government, the Council on Economic Development headed by new Prime Minister Denis Shmygal was established. In particular, its members included presidential adviser Oleg Ustenko, economist Alexander Paskhaver, Senior Fellow at the U.S. Atlantic Council Anders Aslund, Director of the Institute of Economics and Forecasting of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Valery Geyets (secretary of the Council), Director of the Ptukha Institute of Demography and Social Research Ella Libanova, Managing Partner of Capital Times Erik Nayman, Professor at Columbia University Willem Buiter, and lecturer at the Kiev-Mogila Business School Yevgeny Pentsak.