KIEV, July 18 - The World Bank on Friday revised upwards Ukraine's 2008 inflation forecast to 21.5%, up from 17%, in a further sign that the government’s forecast of 15.9% was too optimistic.

Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has been insisting that Ukraine’s inflation will not exceed 15.9% even as consumer prices rose 15.5% in January through June.

Ruslan Piontovsky, a World Bank spokesman in Kiev, said that rising prices of food and energy make the earlier forecast unrealistic.