Ukrainian inflation accelerated for a second month, contributing to last week’s decision by the central bank to keep interest rates on hold after its first cut in almost two years.

Consumer prices rose 9.6% from a year earlier in May after a 8.8% increase the previous month, data released Monday showed. That exceeds the 9% median estimate of eight economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Inflation was 0.7% from April.

What Economists Say

* “Inflation should slow down in the second half of the year, however, there are certain risks. First of all regarding further cooperation with the IMF after parliamentary elections,” said Konstantin Fastovets, an economist at Adamant Capital in Kiev.