UKRAINE-DEFLATION-STATISTICS

Kyiv, August 6 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine saw 0.2% deflation in July 2012, the State Statistics Service has said.

Deflation in Ukraine in 2012 was observed for the third month in a row: in May and June the figure was 0.3%.

Since the start of the year deflation amounted to 0.1% (to December 2011). According to the service, deflation was 0.1% compared to July 2011.

The service said that prices of food and soft drinks fell by 0.5% in July compared to June 2012. The highest fall was registered for vegetables (5.6%), while a decline of 1.6-0.8% was seen for fruits, cereals, butter, cheese, milk, and rice. A fall of 0.4-0.1% was registered for cultured milk products, fish and beef.

Egg prices grew by 4%, and the price of non-alcoholic beverages, sugar, bread and macaroni was up by 0.3-.01%.

The prices of alcohol drinks and tobacco grew by 0.3%, including a rise of 0.3% for tobacco and a rise of 0.4% for alcohol.

A rise of 0.1% was seen in healthcare services, which was mainly due to a seasonal increase in resort services by 2.4%. In addition, a rise of 0.2% was registered for outpatient services. The prices of pharmaceutical goods remained stable.

The prices of transport fell by 0.3%, which is linked to a fall in the price of fuel and lubricants by 1.4%. The cost of passenger transportation by rail grew by 2.4%.

The 1.5% increase in the price of communications services was due to the 10% rise in subscriber fees.

The service said that in July a 0.8-0.3% fall was registered for audio, photo equipment, equipment for processing information, household appliances, clothes, and footwear.

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17:26:07 EET-2