A poll conducted by Reuters agency showed on Friday that the annual inflation rate in Ukraine slowed further during the month of November, as it approached the goal of the central bank, and therefore the central bank is likely to cut interest rates next week.
The Ukrainian central bank, which has already cut interest rates four times this year, holds its last meeting for 2019 on December 12. The respondents expected that the interest rate will be lowered from its current level of 15.5%., The average expectation for inflation in November was 5.9%, down from 6.5% in October and 10.0% in November 2018. Expectations for lowering the interest rate vary between 14 % Or 14.5%, or to 15.0%.
In addition to a slowdown in inflation, economic analysts have pointed to the persistence of the national currency and low returns on domestic debt as among the factors likely to lead to further easing of monetary policy.
The Ukrainian government is in talks with the International Monetary Fund about the three-year program, which could replace the current aid pact and support reforms with loans of up to $ 6 billion.
Analysts said they expected inflation to slow due to the strict monetary policy of the central bank and the flow of foreign capital into local government bonds. As lower oil and gas prices in international markets increased pressure on Ukrainian inflation, the central bank had raised the interest rate in 2017-2018 from 12.5% to 18.0% to help curb inflation.