Ukraine’s Finance Minister Oksana Markarova has said political uncertainty in Ukraine in connection with presidential and parliamentary elections directly affects the country’s fiscal risks.
“The fact that we have a real democracy in our country is very good. The fact that we are unaware of who will be our president when the election campaign begins is very good in terms of democracy. But this uncertainty directly affects fiscal risks,” she said during the April 18 discussion at VoxUkraine (an independent analytical platform) on the risks of Ukraine’s state budget for 2020.
According to the minister, major risks for Ukraine are related to the achievement of target indicators earmarked by the national budget, as well as high debt burden, financial sector risks, privatization failure, and deterioration of state-owned enterprises’ financial condition. The risks have a negative impact on the inflow of investments, provoke macroeconomic risks and those of the financial system, as well as reduce access to capital markets, diminishing possibilities for refinancing foreign debts. Markarova also named medium-term budget planning, public debt management strategy, as well as efficient management of state-owned banks and companies among the methods of managing fiscal risks. (UNIAN/Business World Magazine)