The 2.9% decline in hryvnia deposits in January after a 4.6% increase in December was seasonal and not related to the discussion of the draft law on mobilization, as evidenced by the 2.3% increase in hryvnia deposits in February, National Bank of Ukraine Governor Andriy Pyshny said.
“From year to year, customer account receipts increase at the end of the year and decrease at the beginning. This is a logical trend that was also present in peacetime. Businesses and the government try to complete all payments, including salaries, by the end of the year, and at the beginning of the next year, people spend or invest these funds,” Pyshnyi explained the seasonality effect.
According to him, the National Bank did not see any noticeable impact on the dynamics of deposits from the draft law on mobilization and “fake news” about the alleged introduction of taxation on all card transactions, which was refuted by the Ministry of Finance.
“Moreover, in the first weeks of its (the draft law on mobilization) discussion, the balances continued to increase. In addition, the relevant parliamentary committee has clearly stated that it will not support the provision on blocking accounts. This is possible, as it is now, only in court,” he emphasized.
Pyshnyi also clarified that the central bank did not make “any breakthrough innovations” regarding the disclosure of banking secrecy in February.
“We only clarified the terminology in accordance with the changes in the legislation on access to information, which the authorized state bodies had had before these changes in accordance with the established procedure. The NBU will continue to support initiatives aimed at combating the shadow sector, while strictly upholding the protection of the confidentiality of banking operations in accordance with international standards. we have only clarified the terminology,” the NBU governor said.
The NBU on its Facebook page followed the governor and reminded that in 2023, the amount of hryvnia funds held by households in banks increased by UAH 121 billion, or 20.5%, and reached a historic high of UAH 711 billion, and as of early March, households kept about UAH 707 billion in hryvnia accounts in banks.
“These indicators demonstrate confidence in banks and the national currency, and the share of time deposits of individuals in hryvnia increased by 4.2 percentage points over the year. Despite the widespread war, the level of dollarization of household deposits decreased by more than 2 percentage points to about 34%,” the regulator said.
