Ukraine

Ukraine's economy could shrink by 50% this year if Russia keeps attacking the national power grid and other critical infrastructure, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal was quoted as saying on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Russia has launched a series of missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities since October, causing power outages across the country. "The contraction of the Ukrainian economy is projected at the level of 35-40%," Interfax Ukraine news agency quoted Shmyhal as saying.

With Russian missiles pounding apartment buildings, power plants, schools and roads, a glimmering vision of a reconstructed postwar Ukraine seems impossibly far off. But an urgent battle of ideas has already begun over how to manage what would be the most extensive rebuilding project in Europe since the end of World War II, the New York Times reported.

French prosecutors said on Monday they have put a Ukrainian woman linked to the governor of Lebanon's central bank under formal investigation as part of a cross-border probe into alleged fraud to the detriment of the Lebanese state, Reuters reported. Anna Kosakova, with whom central bank governor Riad Salameh has a daughter, according to a birth certificate seen by Reuters, is suspected of aggravated money laundering, a spokesperson at the Paris office of the National Financial Prosecutors said.

Ongoing Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure have increased the cost to keep Ukraine's economy going next year, adding up to $1 billion a month to previous estimates of $3-$4 billion, the head of the International Monetary Fund told the Reuters. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said she was confident that the European Union, United States and other international partners would continue to provide needed support for Ukraine.

Higher inflation and slower growth are the heavy price that the global economy is paying for Russia’s war in Ukraine, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said on Tuesday, the New York Times reported. Record inflation, fueled by the largest energy crisis since the 1970s, is creating financial hardship for millions, the Paris-based organization said in a new report. Governments and policymakers must make it their top priority to bring inflation down, while shielding households and businesses with targeted spending, the O.E.C.D. added.

The new head of Ukraine's central bank said on Monday the bank's main tasks remained the same, including strengthening the bank's independence, Reuters reported. "The obligations remain unchanged," Andriy Pyshnyi, who was appointed last month, told a news conference at which he said that Ukraine's banking system was stable.

Energy giant Uniper posted a net loss of around $39.3 billion for the first nine months of the year—one of the biggest in Germany’s corporate history—highlighting the financial fallout from Russia’s decision to throttle natural-gas deliveries to Europe, the Wall Street Journal reported. The company, which is soon to be nationalized by Germany in an attempt to stabilize it and protect its customers, said Thursday it was finalizing the details of additional state-support measures.

Ukraine's external financing needs will be around $3 billion a month through 2023 in a best-case scenario, but could rise as high as $5 billion if Russian bombing becomes "even more dramatic," IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said, Reuters reported. The International Monetary Fund is working with Ukrainian authorities to help define and implement the country's macroeconomic policies and what will be required to become a member of the European Union, as well as produce reliable financial projections, Georgieva told a conference in Berlin on Tuesday.

Ukraine's economy is expected to shrink by 30% this year, First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on Monday, as Russia's invasion enters its ninth month, Reuters reported. Earlier this month, the economy ministry said the economy had shrunk by an estimated 30% in the first three quarters of this year compared to the same period in 2021. Svyrydenko also told a Ukraine-Germany business conference that inflation and unemployment were both seen at 30% this year. Read more.

The National Bank of Ukraine kept its key rate unchanged at 25% on Thursday, a level it said was forecast to be maintained until the second quarter of 2024 as it grapples with high inflation fuelled by Russia's invasion, Reuters reported. The central bank, led by new Governor Andriy Pyshnyi, said it expected a 32% GDP contraction in 2022, a slight improvement on its earlier forecast, and that the economy was "livening up" after falling sharply when the war began eight months ago.