Ukraine's central bank to improve 2023 inflation, GDP forecasts - deputy governor
Reuters
Published Oct 04, 2023 09:28
Updated Oct 04, 2023 10:46
KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine's central bank will improve its forecasts for inflation and gross domestic product growth for 2023 at its monetary meeting this month because the situation in the agricultural sector is better, a deputy governor of the bank said.
Serhiy Nikolaichuk said in an online interview with the Forbes-Ukraine publication on Wednesday that the inflation rate was slowing faster than initially expected and the economy was doing better than was foreseen.
"We see a very good situation in agriculture. Actually, it is one of the factors for lower inflation this year. It's due to a high harvest of grains and oilseeds, vegetables and fruits, which push down significantly food prices," he said.
"Also, the economy continues to demonstrate high resilience in wartime."
Nikolaichuk declined to give exact figures, saying they would be announced at the monetary meeting scheduled for Oct. 26.
The central bank has previously said it expects GDP to grow by 2.9% this year after falling by 29.1% last year. Inflation is forecast to reach 10.6% this year.
The central bank this week scrapped an official peg of the hryvnia currency to the dollar which was introduced after Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. The currency had been pegged at 36.57 to the dollar since July 2022.
Since the easing of the peg, the hryvnia has traded close to official levels. The central bank's governor, Andriy Pyshnyi, said after the first day of trading that the National Bank of Ukraine had sold as many dollars as was needed to meet the demand for hard currency on the foreign exchange market.
"Our task is to maintain exchange rate stability. I am certain that when the market understands that the central bank does not plan to let the hryvnia float freely, the interventions will gradually stabilize," he said in a post on Facebook (NASDAQ:META).
Get The App
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.