Due to the war and inflation, the real wages of Ukrainians will be reduced by a quarter

The National Bank (NBU) predicts that nominal salaries in Ukraine will decrease by 12-13% by the end of 2023, and by a quarter, taking inflation into account.

This is stated in the Inflation Report for October 2022, the NBU press service reports.

"Nominal salaries this year will decrease by 12-13%, and in real terms (that is, excluding inflation) by a quarter, given the decrease in the financial stability of enterprises and significant competition among job applicants," the report says.

The number of job seekers significantly exceeds the number of available jobs and the confidence of people already employed in a stable income is low.

This forces people to accept jobs outside of their specialty and lower salary expectations.

At the same time, due to the persistence of a shortage of skilled labor in certain sectors and significant disparities in the labor market, nominal wages will rise by almost a third next year and exceed the pre-war level, and by another 28% in 2024.

• On September 13, the Government approved the draft State Budget for 2023. Initially, budget revenues will amount to 1.28 trillion hryvnias, and expenditures will amount to 2.57 trillion hryvnias. The budget deficit is expected at the level of 1.29 trillion hryvnias for the year. The draft budget envisages economic growth of 4.6% in real terms, inflation +30%. The minimum wage and living wage will not change and will amount to 6 700 and 2 589 hryvnias, respectively.