“Industrial inflation in Ukraine could jump to 40 percent,” – MP Hetmantsev

Annual industrial inflation in Ukraine may rise to 40% within the next two months.

This information reported according to Danylo Hetmantsev, head of the Verkhovna Rada’s Committee on Financial Affairs.

As the lawmaker noted, by January 2024, annual industrial inflation had already exceeded 32%. The sectors experiencing the highest price increases were energy (53%), pharmaceuticals (35.9%), and food production (20.6%). A further sharp surge in prices is expected.

“Inflation will continue to accelerate to 40%, exerting pressure on consumer prices—both directly through the cost of raw materials affecting food and medicine prices, and indirectly through labor and energy costs, which are factored into production expenses,” Hetmantsev predicted.

In January 2025, Ukraine’s National Bank raised the key interest rate for the second consecutive time. The increase from 13.5% to 14.5% per annum is aimed at maintaining the stability of the currency market, keeping inflation expectations under control, and reversing the inflationary trend, according to central bank representatives.

In December, the annual inflation rate reached 12%, compared to the previous rate hike in response to a rise in November’s inflation to 11.2%. According to the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), inflation acceleration, combined with increasing fundamental price pressures, continued into January.

Earlier, the Monetary Policy Committee of the NBU stated that inflation in Ukraine was driven by poor harvests and currency fluctuations. However, the central bank believes the inflationary surge will be relatively short-lived, with consumer inflation remaining in double digits only during the first half of 2025.