Ukraine's central bank has more than halved its 2016 growth forecast as the cash-strapped country battles crises ranging from a fall in commodity prices to a new trade embargo by Russia.
The National Bank of Ukraine said on January 28 that several unfavorable factors beyond the country's control forced the downward revision of its growth forecast from 2.4 percent to 1.1 percent.
The central bank had made the 2.4 percent growth prediction in late November.
Earlier in January, Moscow expanded its embargo on Ukrainian products and restricted their movement across its territory to other markets in response to Kyiv's decision to approve a free-trade and political association pact with the European Union.
Russia and Ukraine have been at odds over the Kremlin’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and Moscow’s support of pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Based on reporting by AFP and UNIAN