Highlight: Association Agreement - ECONOMIC COMPONENT OF THE AGREEMENT: STIMULUS FOR REFORMS
Politics: On June 27, leaders of Ukraine, the EU, and 28 EU Member States signed an essential part of the long-awaited Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine.
Real Sector:Decline in industrial output in May decelerated to 2.1% yoy primarily due to statistical base effect.
Energy sector: Starting July 1, the Government increased tariffs on heating and water supply to cost-covering levels and, simultaneously, cancelled compensations from the state budget to utility companies.
Agriculture: Russia suspended imports of several Ukrainian food products.
External sector: In May merchandise trade deficit remained low at USD 0.2 bn but services exports dropped to levels slightly higher than in 2009 and resulted in very low surplus for trade in services.
Fiscal policy: According to the preliminary data of the State Treasury, central fiscal revenues in June dropped by 7.9% yoy.
Social policy:Disposable income growth in the first quarter of 2014 decelerated to 3.6% yoy in nominal terms and 1.9% yoy in real terms.
Labour market: In May average wage in Ukraine (not including Crimea) grew by 5.0% yoy in nominal terms but declined by 5.4% yoy in real terms.
Monetary policy: Monetary conditions were as before relatively accommodating for sound banks but interbank money market continued to be fragmented.
Exchange rate:In June interbank hryvnia exchange rate stabilized at UAH 11.6-11.9 per USD without direct interventions from the NBU.
State debt:New domestic and external borrowings allowed the Government to serve its debt on time.