Determined to cut inflation in half – to 5% next year – Ukraine’s central bank retained its key interest rate at 18%, the highest level in Eastern Europe.

Determined to cut inflation in half – to 5% next year – Ukraine’s central bank retained its key interest rate at 18%, the highest level in Eastern Europe. The interest rate was hiked by two percentage points last year, contributing to inflation falling to 9.8% in 2018. Economic growth this year will be 2.5%, down from an estimated 3.3% last year, predicts the National Bank of Ukraine. High-interest rates contribute to a vicious cycle: with interest rates high, local entrepreneurs can only turn to friends and family for business loans; a lack of good paying jobs prompts labor migration; wage remittances – currently $1 billion a month – fuel demand, pushing up inflation.