Ukraine raises key refinancing rate to 30 pct

The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has decided to hike its key refinancing rate to 30 percent from 19.5 percent to stabilize the currency market, the bank's governor Valeria Gontareva said here Tuesday.

"The current situation in the currency market is unacceptable," the central bank's governor told reporters during a press conference.

The decision, effective from Wednesday, was taken to curb the progressing inflation and the depreciation of the Ukrainian currency, the hryvnya, Gontareva said.

She added that experts from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed to the measure .

The central bank raised its key refinancing rate five times since last April, when the government started its military operation against pro-independence rebels in Donetsk and Lugansk regions.

Ukraine' s national currency lost nearly half of its value against the U.S. dollar in 2014, while the country' s inflation rate hit 24.9 percent, highlighting the impact of the conflict in eastern regions on the economy. Endi