Ukrainian PM outlines government tasks for next half of 2013

Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said Thursday that accelerating Ukraine's economic development and improving people's well-being were the government's top tasks for the next six months. "Sustainable economic development must be accompanied by increasing people's income and reducing the wealth gap between the country's regions," Azarov told a government meeting. He said a number of options were under consideration to boost economic growth, with efforts focused on revitalization of the private sector. To encourage lending for business, the government would provide state guarantees for banks to finance promising projects, Azarov said. He also noted the importance of investment to the economy, saying the cabinet would set up a special business protection body to attract more funds. In addition, extra efforts would be made to boost domestic consumption to offset falling demand for Ukrainian goods in the global market, Azarov said. The prime minister also pledged to upgrade the basic social service system to improve people's well-being. Ukraine targets an economic growth rate between 2.5 percent to 3.4 percent this year, after a 0.2-percent increase in 2012.