KIEV, Oct. 15 - Ukraine's nominal GDP in 2012 will amount to less than UAH 1.5 trillion, which is lower than all the current government forecasts, according to the National Bank of Ukraine.

"We are estimating nominal GDP for the current year at less than UAH 1.5 trillion, or about $180 billion. If the hryvnia devalues, GDP in the U.S. dollar equivalent will automatically decline - the country will become poorer. Therefore, we should not manipulate the exchange rate, but change the structure of the economy," the director of the NBU's general economic department, Oleksandr Petryk, said in an interview with the Dilova Stolytsia (Business Capital) weekly.