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5.1 External sector overview
Ukraine’s exports are recovering from last spring’s corona-recession. August exports were down only 1.6% y/y, “which in the context of a pandemic sounds like fantasy,” Taras Kachka, deputy minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture, writes on Facebook. “International trade is recovering at a much faster pace than after the 2008 crisis.”
For the first eight months of the year, exports are down 6.6%, to $31bn. With imports down by 12.4%, the trade deficit through August is $1.3bn, about one third the level of the same period last year.
Ukraine’s external goods trade deficit enlarged to $810mn in July from $672mn in the prior month, the State Statistics Service said in its preliminary report published on September 14. The seasonally adjusted goods trade deficit amounted to $713mn (vs. a $751mn deficit in June) amid 3.6% m/m growth in adjusted exports and a 2.0% m/m increase in adjusted imports.
Ukraine continues to run a trade deficit with many its main partners. While China is the biggest export destination accounting for $37bn in turnover in July, the deficit is a relatively modest $665,466, as China tends to make sure it balances its trade with its partners in Eastern Europe.
30 UKRAINE Country Report October 2020 www.intellinews.com
