KYIV, Aug 16 – Ukraine’s economy grew at a much slower annual pace in the second quarter than the government had expected, suggesting that three interest rate hikes this year may have started to hurt growth.

The economy expanded 5.4% on the year in the second quarter, compared with 6% that the government has expected, according to a report from the state statistics service. Analysts expected 7.3% on year growth in the second quarter.