Ukraine economy battered by political turmoil
KYIV — Squeezed by the current political unrest, Ukraine’s economy is deteriorating rapidly and Ukrainians are bracing for more hardship as the country’s new leaders fear a backlash over the introduction of austerity measures.
The economy was flailing even before the February ouster of president Viktor Yanukovych.
In the coming weeks, the removal of generous energy subsidies, tax hikes and severe cutbacks in government spending will start biting. Some 24,000 state workers and 80,000 police officers could lose their jobs, analysts say.
Partly to meet conditions imposed by the International Monetary Fund in exchange for an $18 billion emergency loan, the country’s post-Yanukovych leaders have had little option but to start introducing austerity measures. It’s their bid to haul Ukraine back from the “edge of economic and financial bankruptcy,” according to Ukraine’s prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk.
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