KIEV, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine's shadow economy has sharply declined over the past years due to the implementation of reforms, Ukrainian First Deputy Prime Minister Stepan Kubiv said here on Friday.
Addressing the parliament, Kubiv said that the shadow economy accounted for 32 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) in the first half of this year compared with 43 percent of the GDP in 2014.
The progress was achieved by increasing the minimum wage and implementing reforms in the taxation system, the administrative area and the sphere of public finances, Kubiv said.
According to the Finance Ministry, the lion's share of Ukraine's informal economy is formed by tax evasion, envelope wages and hidden incomes from monetary operations.
Local experts estimated that Ukraine's nominal GDP stood at about 56.48 billion U.S. dollars in the first half of this year. Official figures have not been publicly released so far.
