The Ukrainian authorities should not apply a strategy of economic populism and mercantilism during the global crisis, World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia Shigeo Katsu has put it in an article for the Dzeraklo Tyzhnia (Mirror of the Week) newspaper.
"The economic populism and mercantilism are a poor strategy amid the global crisis. It is leading to isolation and destroys the international trust. The countries that were pursuing such a strategy paid dearly as it resulted in more serious production decline and a slower revival after the international trust had been exhausted," the World Bank representative has said.
According to him, Ukraine currently has entered upon the stage of recession and should pay for the inconsistent macroeconomic policies of the recent years.
Shigeo Katsu stressed that Ukraine needs to pass consistent and firm strategic steps. These steps, the World Bank official believes, should be supported by a political consensus and aimed at balancing the economy, the rehabilitation of the financial sector, the protection of the most vulnerable layers of the population and the provision of key investments into the infrastructure.
Katsu said that the speedy passing of the anti-crisis legislation by the Verkhovna Rada would show that Ukraine's political leaders are capable of uniting if such need arose.
"They should retain this unity and continue communicate openly and act resolutely for the next weeks and months," he stressed.
