Underlying inflation in Ukraine in February 2014 was 5.4%, which is significantly higher than in the previous five months when it ranged between 2.3-2.8%, the State Statistics Service has said.

According to its data, during the year (compared to the same month last year) underlying inflation reached 33.2% compared to 26.1% in January and 22.8% in 2014.

Underlying inflation does not include short-term irregular changes in prices influenced by various factors of an administrative, event-based or seasonal character. For instance, it does not include changes to the price of food and energy.

In 2012-2013, the absolute monthly dynamic of underlying inflation was about 0.1%.

Consumer prices in Ukraine in February 2015 increased by 5.3% compared to 3.1% in January, 3% - in December and 1.9% - in November 2014, while in annul terms their growth reached 34.5%.

Ukraine's national budget for 2015 is built on the optimistic scenario of development, providing for a decline in GDP of 5.5% with inflation being 26.7%, while the other two government scenarios assume the fall in GDP will be 8.6% and 11.9%, with inflation (December to December) being 38.1% and 42.8% respectively.