Ukraine: economy shrank 25-30% in first two months

If you want to know what a modern-day depression looks like, try Ukraine.

Growth in the ex-Soviet state, hit by shrinking markets for its steel and chemical exports, stood at 5.8 per cent of gross domestic product in the same period of 2008. ”We were ill-prepared to confront the crisis and its first blow was painful and difficult…,” Mr Yushchenko told parliament in his state of the nation annual address.

”The consequence of this was a slowdown in GDP growth in 2008 to 2.1 per cent… and a destructive fall of 25-30 per cent according to figures from January-February 2009.” He said he was quoting the figures despite ”determined efforts to conceal them”.

The State Statistics Committee has stopped publishing monthly GDP growth rates and now releases them only quarterly, three months after the event.

Source
Ukraine economy ‘shrank by up to 30%’ – FT