The consumer boom in Ukraine is on the rebound to replace saving and thrifting, according to KyivWeekly. Consumers cannot wait for a “bright future” spending their savings away and taking out new loans.
There are two factors influencing this change in consumption trends. The demand has been long deferred and Ukrainians simply got tired of waiting for the worst case scenario tomorrow, as over the past two years many people, regardless of their level of income, tried to put aside their savings by refraining from the purchase of expensive goods, Business Development Director at IDNT Mykola Chumak said as quoted by Kyiv Weekly.
The real income indicator in January-July 2011 grew 8.1% to UAH 2,495 over the same period last year and economists say the real inflation hit 30%. At the same time, banks continue to reduce their interest rates on loans. Over a year they fell from 15.3-15.5% to 13-13.2%, according to statistics compiled by Prostobank Consulting. Naturally, such a situation drives the consumption of goods and services upwards.
The growth dynamics of retail trade clearly confirms this trend. Based on the results of seven months of this year, the retail turnover was UAH 356.3 bn, which is 15% higher than over the same period last year and is mainly due to the increase in the number of purchases, particularly in the non-food category of products.
