KIEV (AFP) — Ukraine's economy shrank 20.3 percent in the first three months of this year, official data showed on Tuesday, making Ukraine one of the world's worst hit countries in the global economic crisis.
The National Statistics office data, based on a comparison with the first quarter of 2008, showed the construction sector was hardest hit, declining 54 percent over the 12 months while industry went down 36.5 percent.
The energy sector also fell 19 percent but farming and financial services instead showed growth of 1.3 percent and 27 percent respectively.
President Viktor Yushchenko warned earlier that first quarter gross domestic product (GDP) would shrink by more than 20 percent in ex-Soviet Ukraine.
The steep recession comes after a prolonged period of economic growth.
The Ukrainian economy grew at an average of seven percent per year between 2000 and 2007. GDP has since shrunk because of the economy's reliance on metals and chemical exports whose prices have plunged on world markets in the crisis.
The International Monetary Fund has forecast that Ukraine's economy will shrink by 8.0 percent over the whole of 2009, while the World Bank says the fall will be more than 9.0 percent.
Ukrainian analysts are even more pessimistic, forecasting a contraction of between 12.5 percent and 14.0 percent of GDP.
Some analysts have said however that the recession in Ukraine could be bottoming out and growth will resume next year.
Ukraine's precarious financial position has raised the risk on monthly payments to Russian gas giant Gazprom, which cut off supplies to much of Europe in January as part of a dispute with Kiev over payments, debts and prices.
Ukraine is also suffering from a political crisis, with a deep rift between Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko -- two former allies during the pro-Western Orange Revolution of 2004 who have since fallen out.
Ukraine is set to hold a presidential election in January.
The International Monetary Fund has already given 7.3 billion dollars (5.2 billion euros) in loans to Ukraine as part of a 16.5-billion-dollar bailout agreed last year in exchange for budget and economic reforms.
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