Net sales of dollars by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) last week fell to $789.3 million from $891.8 million in the last week of last year, data on the regulator’s website showed on Friday. In the first half of the week, for which the central bank has already published the data, the purchase of currency by bank clients was growing: from a minimum of $56.52 million on Monday to $202.69 million on Wednesday.
As a result, the NBU on Wednesday weakened the official hryvnia exchange rate by 0.08%, or 3 kopecks, to a new low of UAH 38.1159/$1.
Nevertheless, on Thursday the demand weakened slightly, as a result the exchange rate strengthened by 0.20%, or by 7 kopecks, to 38.0412 UAH/$1, and on Friday, the last day of trading, the hryvnia weakened again slightly – by 0.10%, or by 3 kopecks, to 38.0775 UAH/$.
Overall, since Monday, the dollar has appreciated by 0.20%, and since the National Bank’s transition to the regime of managed flexibility on October 3, 2023, the dollar has become more expensive by 4.13%, or 1 UAH 51 kopecks. A pronounced trend towards weakening of the national currency began on November 26 last year, and since then the hryvnia has devalued by 5.73%.
In the cash market on Friday, the dollar rose by 1% to UAH 39.49/$1, returning to the pre-New Year dynamics after a rebound in the first days of the year.
Overall, the NBU’s net sales in December rose to about $3.57 billion from $2.46 billion in November, $3.34 billion in October and $2.69 billion in September. Last month, the Finance Ministry raised $5 billion in external financing, which boosted international reserves by 4.4% in December to $40 billion 507.9 million, the second highest in history after July 2023.
