Ukraine's central bank keeps interest rate unchanged at 8.5%
KYIV, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Ukraine's central bank kept its main interest rate unchanged at 8.5% as expected on Thursday but said there was scope for a rate hike in December if needed to tackle high inflation.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) began tightening monetary policy in March after cutting rates to an historic low last year to support an economy reeling from the coronavirus pandemic.
The NBU has raised rates four times this year as inflation jumped to 11%, the highest level since 2018 and more than double the central bank's target range of around 5%.
A majority of analysts polled by Reuters had expected the main interest rate to remain at 8.5% on Thursday.
"The Board of the National Bank of Ukraine decided to keep the discount rate at 8.5% per annum," the NBU said in a statement.
"Under the baseline scenario, to bring inflation back to the 5% target, the discount rate will be kept at a level of at least 8.5% at least until the third quarter of 2022, and not until the second quarter, as expected in July," it said. (Reporting by Natalia Zinets; Writing by Matthias Williams; Editing by Gareth Jones)
