KIEV, Feb. 7 – Ukraine’s consumer inflation rose dramatically in January, strengthening concerns that the government’s plan to pay out billions of hryvnias in failed Soviet-era bank deposits may undermine price stability in 2008.

Consumer prices increase accelerated to 2.9% on the month in January, up from 2.1% in December 2007, pushing the year-on-year inflation in January to a whopping 19.4%.