IMF downgrades Ukraine 2009 GDP

KIEV, Ukraine, July 10 (UPI) -- Ukraine's gross domestic product for 2009 is expected to decline 14 percent, a big drop from an original forecast of 8 percent, a global banking official said.

Ceyla Pazarbasioglu, head of the International Monetary Fund's mission in Ukraine, in Kiev told a news conference Friday the GDP forecast was downgraded from 8 percent to 14 percent due to the sharp downturn in Ukrainian economic development in the first three months this year.

Ukraine's GDP dropped 20.3 percent in the first quarter of 2009 when compared with the first three months of 2008.

Pazarbasioglu said the IMF also revised its forecast for Ukraine's 2009 state budget deficit from 4 percent to 6 percent, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported.