The NBU predicts that consumer price growth will accelerate moderately in the coming months,

although in April, it was lower than the regulator predicted.

“The deviation from the forecast was provided by the dynamics of little-forecasted factors of a temporary nature, first of all, a sharper drop in prices for raw food products. This is connected to warm weather and less pressure on business costs due to the decrease in raw materials prices under the influence of last year’s significant harvests, and with the reorientation of producers to the domestic market due to the blockade at the western borders,” the NBU added.

However, inflation will soon accelerate due to the exhaustion of the mentioned effects, as well as an increase in commercial wage spending and growth in inflation’s administrative component.

At the same time, inflation will be restrained by reducing external price pressure and monetary policy measures, including maintaining a controlled situation on the FX market and protecting consumer savings from inflationary depreciation. Monetary policy will continue to aim to keep inflation at a moderate level and return it to the target range of 5% ± 1 percentage point over the coming years.