Ukraine: Inflation jumps to over 45%

Consumer prices increased 10.8% in March over the previous month, which was notably above the 5.3% rise registered in February. March’s acceleration was driven by an almost across-the-board increase in inflation, with only prices for alcoholic beverages and tobacco rising at a smaller pace than the previous month.

Annual inflation continued surging upward, reaching 45.8% in March. The result was up from the 34.5% tallied in February and marked a new record high. Inflation has skyrocketed since the onset of the military conflict in Eastern Ukraine, pushed up by sharp increases in the price for gas along with a drastic depreciation of the hryvnia. In addition, annual average variation in consumer prices increased from 17.3% in February to 20.8% in March, which marked the highest level since June 2009.

FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast panelists expect inflation to end 2015 at 23.0%, which is up 1.9 percentage points from last month’s forecast. For 2016, the panel sees inflation easing to 11.5%.