Finance & economics | In the wars

Ukraine has a month to avoid default

Lending to a borrower at war entails an additional gamble: that it will win

A shopkeeper shines a torch during a blackout in an underground shopping mall in central Kyiv, Ukraine, June 19th 2024
When the lights go outPhotograph: AP

War is still exacting a heavy toll on Ukraine’s economy. The country’s GDP is a quarter smaller than on the eve of Vladimir Putin’s invasion, last year the central bank tore through foreign reserves and Russia’s attacks on critical infrastructure have hurt growth forecasts. “Strong armies”, warned Sergii Marchenko, Ukraine’s finance minister, on June 17th, “must be underpinned by strong economies.”

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This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “In the wars”

From the July 6th 2024 edition

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