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Ukraine is second by inflation rate globally — former acting PM Arbuzov

Inflation will only speed up in coming months, reflecting a significant rise in tariffs for utility services, ex-chief of the National Bank of Ukraine Sergey Arbuzov says

© AP Photo/Sergey Chuzavkov

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Ukraine among world’s top five miserable economies — Bloomberg

ST. PETERSBURG, April 10. /TASS/. Ukraine is in the second place globally in terms of the inflation rate but the economy may recover by itself when the inflation declines due to the consumer demand drop, former acting prime minister and ex-chief of the National Bank of Ukraine Sergey Arbuzov said on Friday.

"Inflation showed the abysmal performance in March. The consumer price index in Ukraine rose 10.8% over a month and reached 45.8% year-on-year. Such figures were not observed in Ukraine since mid-1990s. Western experts estimated the price hike as 111% on an annualized basis. This is the second largest inflation rate across the globe. Ukraine gave the road in this underperformance rating to Venezuela alone, where the inflation indicator is 252%," Arbuzov said.

"Inflation will only speed up in coming months, reflecting a significant rise in tariffs for utility services: natural gas, power, and water supply," he added. Indexation of budget expenses undertaken by the government of Ukraine only adds fuel to the inflation, the ex-official said. "The economy may recover by itself: the inflation will decline over time because of the weak consumer demand and the price drop on global markets," Arbuzov added.

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