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Nikolaychuk expects the NBU Board's relevant decision on January 30.
Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine Serhiy Nikolaychuk says the monetary policy of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) in the near future may be aimed at pushing inflation upwards to the target indicator set at 5% by the end of 2020.
"We have every reason for a faster normalization of the monetary policy than it was projected in October by the NBU and market experts, who were usually more inert. I look forward to the NBU Board's decision [to be made] on January 30. Most likely, in the near future, the task will be the opposite – to raise inflation to the target. I think there should be no problems in this regard, unlike the central banks of developed countries," the Cabinet's press service quoted Nikolaychuk as saying on January 10, when analyzing the State Statistics Service's data showing that inflation fell to 4.1% in 2019.
Read alsoGrowth of prices in Ukraine slows to six-year low – statistics
According to Nikolaychuk, the NBU's activities should convince citizens, businesses, and investors that Ukraine has an institutionally strong and capable central bank.
"As a result, I expect a reduction in inflation expectations and their linking to inflationary targets and, consequently, a decrease in market interest rates (including for banking products), both nominal and real ones. This should be a significant impetus for a sustainable economic growth," the official added.
As UNIAN reported earlier, consumer inflation in Ukraine in December 2019 was 4.1% year-over-year (against December 2018), which hit a six-year low.
In October 2019, the Cabinet of Ministers and the National Bank, represented by Ukrainian Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk and NBU Governor Yakiv Smolii, signed a memorandum of understanding. The document says the NBU, in its monetary policy, will seek to cut inflation to 5% with an acceptable deviation range of 1 percentage point. Smolii added that the regulator plans to achieve the inflation target at 5% by late 2020 – early 2021.