Economist: Ukraine is getting deeper into the debt abyss
Ukraine must pay off $25,9 billion in debt in 2021, but the country will have to reborrow this money at even higher interest rates.
Economic expert Viktor Skarshevsky stated this on the Ukrlife internet channel, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“We received 700 million dollars from the IMF - that’s nothing, and they don’t make any difference. This year Ukraine must pay back $25,9 billion in debt, and we will have to borrow this money. We have already borrowed 15 billion this year. These are not only dollar loans, but also domestic hryvnia loans, and we borrow all this at interest, and the hryvnia interest can reach 12-13 percent per annum.
Now the IMF has low annual interest rates, less than one percent per annum. But the conditions that we must fulfill, and the losses that the fulfillment of obligations to the IMF leads to, far exceed the interest and insignificant amounts that we receive,” said Skarshevsky.
As a reminder, Kyiv officials previously announced that the Kyiv government is preparing to sign another memorandum with the IMF, under which Ukraine will commit to introducing market prices for electricity, which will significantly increase prices for the population.
In addition, Kyiv noted that all of Ukraine's obligations to the IMF were initiated by the Ukrainian side , although they are very disadvantageous to Ukraine.
Economist : Ukraine is falling deeper into debt.