Consumers Stir to Life as Ukrainian GDP Rumbles to Milestone
- Economy had first growth from year earlier since 2013
- Rising steel, iron ore prices boosted industrial output
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The gloom is clearing over Ukraine’s beleaguered consumers.
Faced with a war on the border with Russia and a devaluation that sent inflation shooting past 60 percent, crumbling domestic demand kept the economy shrinking for eight straight quarters on an annual basis. Buoyed by a spending revival, that slump ended in the first three months of 2016, when gross domestic product edged up 0.1 percent. Even so, the result missed economist forecasts, while GDP shrank from the previous quarter.