Net sales of dollars by the National Bank of Ukraine jumped to $862.5 million this week from $544.0 million a week earlier, the last time the NBU sold more in the first week of the transition to managed exchange rate flexibility in early October.
According to the central bank’s website, the hryvnia exchange rate on the interbank market weakened by almost 0.8%, or 28 kopecks, to 37.0211 UAH/$1 over the week, with the rate depreciating on Monday-Wednesday, while it was relatively stable on Thursday-Friday.
NBU Governor Andriy Pyshnyi explained the increase in demand for foreign currency and the exchange rate movement as a traditional seasonal factor at the end of the year. “Today we are witnessing the seasonality process that was already common in pre-war times, when the need for foreign currency increases at the end of the year. We are seeing the utilization of expenses that have been accumulating throughout the year. Usually, they are not realized in time,” he said during a press briefing on Thursday in Kyiv.
At the same time, compared to the fixed exchange rate of 36.5686 UAH/$1, which the National Bank maintained from the end of July 2022 to October 3 this year, the hryvnia is now only 1.2% cheaper.
This week, the exchange rate on the cash market repeated the movement on the interbank market, but not on such a large scale, which resulted in the hryvnia weakening by only about 17 kopecks to 37.55 UAH/$1, and the spread between the rates of the two markets narrowed again.
As reported, the National Bank’s net sales in November fell to $2.46 billion from $3.34 billion in October and $2.69 billion in September. However, the reduction in external financing to $2.04 billion led to a decrease in international reserves for the fourth consecutive month – by 0.5%, or $187.8 million, to $38 billion 785.2 million.
In total, since the beginning of this year, the NBU has purchased $217.9 million in the market, while selling $26 billion 958.7 million.
