Ukraine’s economy is predicted to shrink 30 percent this year.

Ukraine’s economy will shrink 30 percent this year, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development forecast on Tuesday, as the war is expected to have an even more devastating toll on the country than previously predicted.

The bank, which invests in projects across 40 countries in Europe and Central Asia, lowered its forecast from just two months ago, when it predicted that Ukraine’s economy would contract 20 percent.

The war has “put Ukraine’s economy under enormous stress, with the heavy devastation of infrastructure and production capacities,” the bank said in an economic update.

Already, it is estimated that 30 percent to 50 percent of Ukrainian businesses have shut down their operations, 10 percent of the population has fled the country and another 15 percent have been displaced within the country, the bank said. Last month the country’s inflation rate reached nearly 16 percent, Ukraine’s central bank estimated. Read more

@nytimes