The IMF’s forecasts on GDP drop and unemployment rate has turned out to be much worse than the most pessimistic forecasts of Ukraine’s government. Still, the Cabinet has offered no adequate measures on supporting economy and strengthening the healthcare system for fighting the coronavirus epidemic, OPPOSITION PLATFORM – FOR LIFE MP Serhiy Lovochkin said.

“The most recent draft of the budget bill was passed with a 4.8-percent GDP decline forecast. But the IMF says Ukrainian economy will drop by 7.7 percent, and this sounds more justified as there has been no measures on saving the manufacturing industry and the service sector. The administration has not included our Anti-crisis proposal on economy support, although we had warned the crisis would be much deeper that the government had thought,” Lovochkin said.

The politician believes Ukraine has entered two crises simultaneously, both in healthcare and economy, but the government has been making band-aid solutions that only aggravate the situation.

“The IMF forecasts Ukraine’s unemployment rate to be the worst since 2002, but even this threat is not enough for the Cabinet to make decisions that will revive the manufacturing industry. OPPOSITION PLATFORM – FOR LIFE insists on passing our Anti-crisis plan that includes all solutions needed to soften the crisis in Ukraine’s economy.

“The plan must be adopted and implemented in the upcoming weeks, otherwise the implications for the budget and social and economic situation in general will be catastrophic,” the MP said.