OREANDA-NEWS. April 08, 2008. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is not planning to change its macroeconomic forecasts for Ukraine in 2008, EBRD Ukraine Director Kamen Zahariev said.

EBRD's position is now in the middle between relatively optimistic macroeconomic forecasts of the Ukrainian government and rather pessimistic forecasts of the International Monetary Fund, Zahariev said stressing that the EBRD was planning Ukraine's GDP growth at 7,7%.

Inflation rate will play a great role there. Zahariev says the Ukrainian government will experience difficulties in fighting inflation, adding that this year the EBRD opens in Ukraine a program for crediting in hryvnias. In his words, this aims at reduction of this country's economic dependence on the US dollar.

Earlier the EBRD predicted Ukraine's average annual inflation in 2008 at the level of 11,7%.

On April 2, Robert Ford, head of the IMF mission which worked in Ukraine March 20 through April 2, predicted Ukraine's GDP rise of 5,6%, annual inflation of 20% - 22%, and December - on - December inflation of 17% in 2008.

In March, Ukrainian inflation was 3,8%, and in January - March 9,7%.

The 2008 national budget was based on inflation forecast of 9,6%, with a real GDP rise of 6,8%.