The IMF saw a positive in a large flow of refugees from Ukraine

A large flow of refugees from Ukraine to the EU due to the Russian invasion could be a positive for the EU countries. European countries are in need of labor. This was stated by the Director of the European Department of the IMF Alfred Kemmer, writes Voice of America .

In the long run, Ukraine wants the refugees to return. The sooner this happens, the better. However, some of the refugees may stay for a long time and this will be positive for Europe, because in the medium term there is a labor shortage in Europe, he said.

He noted that Poland alone received about three million Ukrainian refugees. The costs for the Polish budget will be estimated at 0.5 to 1% of GDP, which is a lot for the budget of a European country. In total, five million people were forced to flee abroad because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

However, Poland welcomes refugees and we understand European solidarity, the solidarity of many European countries when it comes to helping Ukrainian refugees. Still, there is an impact on the budget and we know that there is pressure on the housing market, but there is a significant desire to help and therefore we believe that the first phase was carried out very successfully, he added.

Earlier this week, the IMF projected that due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, economic growth in 19 countries using the euro in 2022 will be 2.8%, 1.1 percentage points below the forecast in January.

It is expected that the losses of the Ukrainian economy due to the war will be the highest in the history of independence. The World Bank has predicted a drop in Ukraine's GDP to 45%.