The Ukrainian GDP increased by 7.1% in the January-August period, against 6.5% growth in the January-July period, Valeriy Lytvytsky, the chief manager of the National Bank of Ukraine, told on Monday, citing the State Statistics Committee.

"The growth of the economy in Ukraine was supported by the agricultural sector and trade," he said.

He said GDP increased in August by 10.8%, compared to 7.4% in July.

Hence, the World Bank had earlier forecast 21.6 percent inflation for Ukraine in 2008.

Let's remind that the World Bank approves the economic policy of the Ukrainian government, the manager director of World Bank Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala reported after her meetings with Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

"We have discussed the economic situation of Ukraine. The Ukrainian government is using tough fiscal approaches to settle the situation. The government is making steps in the right direction. Everyone understands that inflation can be a serious problem," she said at a press conference in Kyiv on Monday.

She further added the World Bank gave the recommendations to the government use a more flexible currency exchange policy.

As it was reported earlier, in August 2007, the GDP grew by 5.8%, compared to August 2006 to UAH 65,370 million.

In January-August 2007 the real gross domestic product increased by 7.5%, compared to January-August 2006 to UAH 419,522 million.

In 2006, the real GDP rose by 7.1%, compared to 2005 to UAH 537,667 million.

The Cabinet of Ministers predicts GDP growth of 6.5% in 2007. The outlook is foreseen in the draft 2007 national budget.

The Cabinet of Ministers endorsed major macroeconomic indicators of the Ukrainian development for 2008 including GDP growth of 7.2%.