2024-09-12T11:14:00+03:00 Economy 2024-09-22T04:00:02+03:00

Ukrainian news

Actual rates of price growth in August were higher than trajectory of NBU forecast

Actual rates of price growth in August were higher than trajectory of NBU forecast

The actual rate of price growth in August was marginally higher than the forecast trajectory published in the July 2024 Inflation Report.

This is stated in the message of the NBU, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

In August 2024, annual (y/y) consumer inflation accelerated to 7.5% from 5.4% in July.

In monthly terms, prices increased by 0.6%.

At the same time, the fundamental inflationary pressure intensified more than forecast.

Thus, the core inflation index rose to 6.5% in August from 5.7% in July.

The acceleration in the growth of consumer prices was caused primarily by the effects of this year's poorer harvests and the impact of higher business costs for food raw materials, energy and wages.

Price pressure and carry-over effects from the weakening of the hryvnia exchange rate in previous months were supported.

The growth of prices for raw food products resumed - up to 3.7% y/y.

The price of sugar and cereals decreased more slowly due to the depletion of stocks from the previous high harvests and dry weather conditions.

The growth of flour prices accelerated due to the increase in the cost of raw materials and production costs.

Prices of tomatoes and cucumbers rose due to lower supply.

For the same reason, as well as due to the exhaustion of the influence of the factor of last year's high harvests, the prices of some borshch vegetables, zucchini and stone fruits increased at a faster rate.

The increase in milk prices accelerated due to the limited supply while at the same time maintaining high demand from milk processing enterprises.

The decrease in prices for eggs and certain types of livestock products slowed down due to increased pressure on production costs, in particular on energy.

The growth of administratively regulated prices slightly accelerated - up to 13.7% y/y.

Prices for alcoholic beverages decreased more and more slowly. In addition, the growth of prices for pharmaceutical products, medical goods and equipment accelerated, probably due to the exchange rate factor.

The increase in the price of tobacco products slowed down somewhat, but their prices grew at a fairly high rate, including under the influence of the fight against shady products.

As before, inflation was restrained by a moratorium on tariff increases for certain housing and utility services for the population.

The growth of fuel prices slowed down sharply - to 10.1% y/y.

Such dynamics reflected the adequacy of fuel reserves and lower than expected oil prices on world markets.

It is reported that inflationary pressure will persist in the coming months due to an increase in business costs for labor and electricity, a gradual increase in excise taxes and the effects of the carryover of the devaluation of the hryvnia in previous months.

The monetary policy of the National Bank will continue to be aimed at keeping inflation at a moderate level this year and returning it to the 5% target in the coming years.

This will be facilitated by the NBU's measures to protect hryvnia incomes and savings of the population from inflation and ensure the stability of the currency market.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, in August 2024, consumer prices rose by 0.6%.

In January-August 2024, inflation was 4.9%.