KYIV, March 4 – The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) raised key policy rate to 6.5% from 6% in response to rising consumer inflation but said it will continue watching COVID-19 pandemic for its impact on the economy.

This is the first rate increase since June 2020.

"Consumer inflation increased to 6.1% year-on-year in January. Inflation continued to accelerate in February according to the NBU’s preliminary estimates," the central bank said Thursday.