The government has launched an asset verification of officials exceeding 50,000 UAH.

The Federal Reserve kept rates unchanged

The Federal Reserve kept rates unchanged at its March meeting. The decision was made shortly after President Donald Trump expressed his desire for a different approach. In his post on Truth Social, he wrote: 'The Fed would be WAY better to LOWER RATES when US tariffs start to translate (decrease!) to the economy. Do the right thing. April 2 is Liberation Day in America!!!'

Overall forecasts from the Federal Reserve predict growth for the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index – a measure of personal inflation used by the administration – of 2.7% this year, surpassing the 2.5% forecast that was disclosed late last year.

'Personal inflation according to the Consumer Price Index increased by 2.8% in February, exceeding the Federal Reserve's 2% threshold. Furthermore, food prices have risen significantly, with eggs up 58.8% and raw beef products up 7.8% year-on-year,' the press release stated.

The head of the US Federal Reserve supports Powell

During a press conference on Wednesday, when asked about the impact of tariffs on inflation, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell responded: 'It’s very difficult to assess accurately how much trade tariffs influence inflation. Entering the first two months of the year, inflation in commodities rose significantly; it’s very hard to track the impact of tariffs on these changes.'

Nevertheless, Powell believes that any inflation caused by tariffs might be 'transitory'. 'As I have noted before, sometimes it may be appropriate to regard inflation as it is expected to quickly dissipate without additional measures from us. In this case, this may relate to inflation caused by tariffs,' added the Federal Reserve Chair.

New tariffs will be announced in April

New tariffs will be announced in April. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessen noted that these tariffs will not be universally dependent but will vary for each country: 'Each country will get its figure, which we believe represents their tariff level. Therefore, for some countries, it may be very low, and for others - very high,' he said on the Ukrainian channel FOX Business Network.

The central bank kept the base interest rate between 4.25% and 4.5% for the second consecutive meeting and suggests the possibility of further double rate cuts this year. The last three consecutive cuts in 2024 were reductions of 50 basis points in September and 25 basis points in November and December.