KYIV, July 12 - The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has worsened expectations as of the growth of the Ukrainian economy in 2019 and predicts a slowdown to 2.5%, according to the central bank's website.

"In 2019, real GDP growth will slow to 2.5% (2.9% in the previous forecast), due to the waning effects of higher social standards, the tight monetary conditions required to bring inflation back to its target, as well as tight fiscal policy resulting from the need to repay large volumes of public debt," the NBU said in a statement.