© AFP 2015/ Vasily Maximov
Consumer prices were up 60.9% higher in April from the year before, Ukraine's state statistics agency wrote on its website. There was 14% inflation in the first four months of 2015 alone.
The dramatic increase was largely due to a rise in energy prices: according to the agency, the cost of natural gas rose by more than five times in April, more than doubling total utility costs for households. Food prices increased by 4.4%, slowing from 15.6% in March.
The new energy prices were part of a package of reforms passed by Ukraine's parliament last month. In March, the International Monetary Fund approved a $17.5 billion emergency loan as part of a larger $40 billion international package, but has demanded key reforms from the Ukrainian government. Ukraine is currently in talks with creditors to restructure its debt.
Ukraine's economy has struggled to recover from a collapsing currency and ongoing conflict in the east of the country: last week, the World Bank said that it predicted the country's gross domestic product would drop by 7.5% and that consumer inflation would hit 32% in 2015.
Today we are living in the modern world with an open market economy model. I do not know about others but somehow I have a feeling that this free or open market system is the root problem for all these inflation attacking a couple number of countries in recent years. we see the effect everywhere, in the stock market too. Only a couple of companies get to achieve their target turnovers. we have also been witness to see the death of legend business companies who could not even stand a chance in this new economic system. some people say that it is good, we should not think about legacy in business. the question is where is the chance to create a new legacy? in these days, seems like only the small banks who provide suitable personal loans to people are making a fare share of business as the loans are the new alternative fund source for the people to make their necessary livings in such times of inflation.