Page 19 - UKRRptMar20

particularly sensitive to inflation.
The rapid increase in incomes feed through to retail sales which were up 12.1% in January year-on-year.
Ukrainians had significantly less purchasing power than Russians, Belarusians, and Poles in 2019​, according to figures released by the International Monetary Fund at the end of February.
Ukraine’s per capita income stood at $9,700 in 2019, which was 71.5% and 50% less than Poland ($33,991) and Belarus ($20,600) respectively.
Domestic purchasing power parity in Poland increased by 7.70% in 2019 on its 2018 rate to $33,891. Ukraine only slightly outranks Morocco with per capita income at $9,200, the IMF figures for 2019 found.
IMF Resident Representative in Ukraine Goesta Ljungman said that the country needs to ensure a growth by an average of 6% per year over the course of 20 years in order to catch up with the neighbouring economies of Russia, Belarus and Poland.
President Zelenskiy aims to raise the wages to near Polish levels by the end of his term​, in the summer of 2024. Currently Poland’s average monthly salary of $1,286 is 2.5 times greater than Ukraine’s average monthly salary of $500. Adjusted for Poland’s higher taxes, the real ratio might be 2:1. If Ukraine’s average salary can reach 70% of Poland’s, or $900, many Ukrainians would not be tempted to migrate there for work, Zelenskiy says in a video address. “I really want our average salary to be the same as in Poland,” he says. “Why like in Poland? Because there are already millions of Ukrainians in Poland. And they will return only if there is motivation.”
Ukraine is the third cheapest place to live in Europe, ​topped only by Macedonia and Kosovo, reports a new survey of 132 countries worldwide compiled by Australia’s Ceoworld Magazine. Five factors were analyzed: cost of living, rent, groceries, eating out, and purchasing power. The five most expensive countries were: Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Japan and Denmark.
19​ UKRAINE Country Report​ March 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com