Kiev, Feb 7 (IANS): Ukraine's annual inflation rate spiked to 28.5 percent in January, highlighting the impact of conflict in its eastern regions on the weakening economy.
In January, food prices, utility costs and transport prices were up 30.1 percent, 34.6 percent and 42.7 percent year on year respectively, Xinhua reported citing a State Statistics Service report Friday.
Analysts expect a further increase in the inflation rate in the coming months, as political and economical instability continue to put pressure on the local currency, the hryvnia, feeding panic across the market.
The National Bank of Ukraine earlier took moves to devalue the local currency to an all-time low against the US dollar, with hryvnia weakening to about 23.13 per dollar. Before the start of the crisis in Ukraine in February 2014, the exchange rate was around 7.99 hryvnia to the dollar.