Due to incompetent economic, financial and monetary policy of the current government Ukraine's public debt exceeded 1.7 billion hryvnias. If we divide that amount by the number of people, every Ukrainian citizen now owes more than 40 thousand hryvnias in the nation’s foreign debt. MP Serhiy Lovochkin (OPPOSITION BLOC) said this in a statement.
“Only in March this year, the total public debt of Ukraine increased by 1.4% or $ 887 million, and now reaches $ 65.2 billion. And it continues to grow by astronomical rates, both in absolute terms and as a percentage of GDP and per capita. “Today the share of every Ukrainian citizen in the nation’s debt exceeds 40 thousand hryvnias, while in 2014 the figure was about 12 thousand,” Serhiy Lovochkin said.
According to the MP, so far the visible results of anti-crisis policy of the new government boil down to the snowballing public debt, a record-breaking inflation of 20 years - prices rose by almost 90%, a plummeting hryvnia, which already lost more than two thirds of its value, and the skyrocketing growth of utility tariffs: the gas price grew 8 times, central heating - 4.5 times.
“In 2014-2015 Ukraine has lost 16% of its economy, 23% of its industry, our country faces a real threat of rapid de-industrialization and conversion to agricultural, raw resource producing state. Against this background we see rising unemployment, wage arrears and deteriorating real social standards,” Serhiy Lovochkin said.
He stressed that in such conditions it was vital that Ukraine move from a dead-end development model based on external management and snowballing public debt to the model of an investment-attracting and economically strong state that is constantly evolving. And the main prerequisite for this model is peace.
“Ukraine does not need new loans, but it needs peace, new investments and new jobs. We need to attract not $ 1.7 billion in foreign direct investment per year, as it was in 2014-2015 year, but at least $ 6.8 billion, as in pre-crisis years. These investments should be routed, above all, to our industry, construction and transport infrastructure,” the politician believes.
He also noted that the growth of domestic and foreign investment should be the starting point for the recovery of Ukrainian economic potential.
“Only on this basis can we lay the groundwork for the continuous improvement of living standards and social standards in the country,” Serhiy Lovochkin summed up.
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