Oleksiy Lyubchenko: Economic Recovery and "Great Construction" are the factors of GDP growth by 5.4% in Q II of this year
According to the flash estimate of the State Statistics Service, real GDP in QII of 2021 increased by 5.4% compared to the same period last year after falling by 2.2%. According to the calculations of the Ministry of Economy, the volume of GDP in the first half of 2021 grew by 1.7% compared to the first half of last year. This was announced by the First Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Economy of Ukraine Oleksiy Lyubchenko.
Speaking about the factors that contributed to GDP growth, Oleksiy Lyubchenko noted that it is the resumption of activity in almost all types of economic activity, intensification of construction against the background of launching a mortgage lending program, increasing the volume of large construction projects, favorable conditions in foreign commodity markets.
"We are seeing a recovery in the manufacturing sector, all types of economic activity are showing growth, except for agriculture. These factors will allow for compensating for the current lag in economic development and maintain a positive trend until the end of the year. Our goal is to provide GDP growth by 4%," Oleksiy Lyubchenko stressed.
For his part, the First Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Economy of Ukraine noted that the Government has introduced unprecedented measures to support business amid turbulent times caused by the pandemic: "Affordable Loans at 5-7-9% program, the state program for business support during quarantine, introduction of a moratorium on inspections and much more. The state has mobilized all available measures to preserve tens of thousands of Ukrainian companies and hundreds of thousands of jobs. And we have already received results - a stable growth of actual GDP."
The main factors of GDP growth in QII of this year were:
- Signs of gradual recovery and the formation of optimistic business sentiment through the easing of quarantine restrictions in the economy. According to the National Bank, the index of business activity expectations in June reached its highest value since October 2019 and amounted to 51.6 points against 50.5 points in May 2021.
- High consumer demand. Establishment of the minimum wage at the level of UAH 6,000 from January 1, 2021, and, as a result, an increase in the average monthly wage by 16.5% in QII of 2021, compared to QII of last year.
- Favorable situation on foreign raw materials markets, (in QII of 2021 compared to the corresponding period of 2020 the price index for base metals increased by 68.3%, world prices for iron ore - 2.1 times, for fertilizers - by 64.8%, for wheat - by 30.9%, for corn - 2 times). According to preliminary data, exports of goods and services in QII of 2021, increased by 45.1% compared to QII of last year.