In 2015, Ukraine's gross domestic product (GDP) plunged by 9.8% in the wake of Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, as well as the ongoing military conflict with Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine's industrial east. Since then, however, the economy has been on an upward trajectory and Ukraine's GDP grew by 3.2% in 2019. However, the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 is likely to have a severe impact on the economy during the year and beyond - though many are hoping for a quick recovery, coupled with the continuation of the country's much-needed reform programme. In its inflation report for April 2020, the central bank, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), forecast an economic decline of 5% in 2020, but predicted that it would return to a growth of about 4% in the following years. According to the NBU, in April to June the economy will shrink by 11% year-on-year, with unemployment rising to about 12%, in seasonally adjusted terms.
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