Inflation tops 60% in conflict-hit Ukraine

Annual inflation in strife-torn Ukraine soared to some 61 percent in April, the state statistics agency said Wednesday, as the conflict in the east of the country continued to roil the stricken economy.

The year-on-year figure rose from some 53.7 percent in March as the ex-Soviet nation counts the cost of more than a year of bitter fighting with pro-Russian rebels that has ravaged its industrial heartland.

Leading the way was an 88 percent hike in utility prices and an increase of some 46 percent in the cost of medical services.

The turmoil in Ukraine has brutalised the country's already faltering economy and the World Bank has predicted that GDP will plummet by some 7.5 percent this year.

The Ukrainian currency, the hryvnia, has also slumped dramatically and has lost some half of its value in 2014 and has continued to spiral downward this year.

Ukraine is being propped up by a $17.5 billion financial bailout plan from the International Monetary Fund and has received some $5 billion of the aid in March.

Kiev has had to commit to a radical reform programme to secure the loan that are set to see hikes to subsidised household utility bills.