KIEV, March 23. /TASS/. To revive its economy Ukraine should turn down recommendations of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which demands the country increase taxes and cut social allowances, Alexander Okhrimenko, President of the Ukrainian Analytical Centre, said on Monday.
"The longer Ukraine tries to implement IMF recommendations the more profound will be the crisis," he said. "It is necessary to abandon IMF recommendations, to raise salaries to a normal level, to form a normal market and to begin real tax reforms." The latter, in his words, stems from the "colossal tax burden" on Ukrainian businesses.
He noted that most of IMF’s forecasts for Ukraine made in 2014 had failed to hold up. "In 2014, IMF’ big analysts calculated a forecast /for Ukraine/ till the year 2019. Under this forecast, the 2014 exchange rate of the U.S. dollar was to be 9.46 hryvnias, and under 10.75 hryvnias in 2015, while the current exchange rate is 23.1 hryvnias per one U.S. dollars. Their other predictions have failed to be true either," he said.
According to Okhrimenko, Ukraine would be able to regain its economic standings of 2013 in a decade. "Ukraine will live through crisis in 2016 and in 2017. The year 2018 might be somewhat easier. Ukraine will be able to reach the 2013 level only by 2023 or 2026," he said.
"Now we are living through a crisis the United States faced in the 1920s, thanks to recommendations of the International Monetary Fund," the expert underscored.