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Ukraine's shadow economy grows to 47 pct of GDP amid uncertainty over future

Xinhua, August 14, 2015 Adjust font size:

Ukraine's shadow economy has increased by 5 percentage points to 47 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter amid growing uncertainty over the future, the country's Economy Ministry said Friday.

"As economic entities lost faith in the improvement of the economic and political situation in the near future, they began to actively use schemes to conceal parts of their income," the ministry said in a statement on its website.

The unstable exchange rate of the local currency, the conflict escalation in its eastern regions and the deterioration of economic relations with Russia -- Ukraine's leading trading partner -- were key factors behind the growing underground economy, the statement said.

Last year, Ukraine's shadow economy reached 42 percent of the GDP, hitting its highest level since 2007. Endi