A new report by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) forecasted that Ukraine’s economy would shrink by one-fifth in 2022, as the ongoing invasion by Russia continues to take its toll on the beleaguered Eastern European nation. On Wednesday, the London-based EBRD, a developmental investment bank with an emphasis on the former Soviet bloc, released its first forecasts since the beginning of the current Russo-Ukrainian war, predicting short-term economic decline for both Russia and Ukraine, with the latter suffering more severely. “The war on Ukraine has been having a profound impact on the economies in the EBRD regions as well as globally,” said EBRD economist Beata Javorcik. “Inflationary pressures were already exceptionally high and it seems certain they will now be worse, which will have a disproportionate effect on many of the lower-income countries where we work.” The EBRD forecasts were premised on the assumption that a ceasefire …