Publication: Ukraine - Building Foundations for Sustainable Growth : A Country Economic Memorandum
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2004-12-27
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2004-12-27
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Favorable economic conditions offer a window of opportunity for the Ukrainian government External factors served as a catalyst for the economic turnaround but policies and reforms have also played a critical role. Nevertheless, the positive trends will weaken without vision at the top level of government. An "insider economy" threatens to become a primary obstacle to Ukraine's future development and also weakens the link between economic growth and welfare benefits for the larger population. This report examines the obstacles to sustainable growth and outlines the strategic vision for economic policy and reform. Specifically, it discusses adopting the economic strategy of European Choice, which addresses many o f the outstanding problems emphasized in the previous chapter. This includes strengthening legal and regulatory institutions, improving standards o f corporate governance, reducing subsidies, continuing reform in agriculture, negotiating free trade agreements, and bringing numerous standards into harmony with WTO and EU requirements. Ukraine has also established a set o f Millennium Development Goals for elevating key social indicators in the direction o f EU levels. This includes ambitious goals for poverty reduction, expanding access to quality health and education, reducing infant mortality, preventing the spread o f HIV/AIDS, achieving environmental sustainability, and addressing gender inequality in the labor market. The next task will be a more precise formulation o f policy and reform directions that are consistent with these underlying goals, including the prioritizing and sequencing of specific measures to make most effective use of the Ukrainian political process.
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“World Bank. 2004. Ukraine - Building Foundations for Sustainable Growth : A Country Economic Memorandum. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/14375 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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