Ukraine targets 3.5% growth in 2015

After stagnating last year, Ukraine's economy could potentially reach 3.5 percent growth in 2015, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade said Friday. "We target the country's gross domestic product (GDP) growth at around 3.5 percent if overall production in all sectors of the economy rises," the ministry said in a statement. The ministry noted that Ukraine should stabilize its financial system, implement deep reforms, and improve its investment climate to achieve the planned GDP increase. Meanwhile, the ministry said that in a negative scenario, the growth rate would reach no more than 1.7 percent. Global financial institutions are also quite optimistic about Ukraine's GDP increase in 2015, with the World Bank projecting an 3 percent increase, while the International Monetary Fund expects the economy to rise 2 percent. For the current year, the Ukrainian government forecast the economy would shrink 3 percent due to the ongoing political instability in the East European country.