Net sales of dollars by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) increased to $977.3 million last week from $862.5 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.
In the first half of the week, according to the central bank, purchases of foreign currency by bank clients grew, reaching $475 million on Wednesday and exceeding sales by $260 million.
As a result, the NBU on Wednesday weakened the hryvnia by 0.6%, or 23 kopecks, and in total for the first three days of the week – by 1.4%, or 53 kopecks.
On Thursday, however, the depreciation was very slight, and on Friday the NBU even strengthened the exchange rate by 4 kopecks to 37.5525 UAH/$1.
Overall, since November 26, when the national currency began to weaken, the dollar has risen by 4.3%, or UAH 1.54. At the same time, due to the strengthening of the hryvnia in the first time after the National Bank switched to a managed flexibility regime on October 3, the dollar rose by 2.7%, or 98 kopecks, against the fixed exchange rate that had been in effect for more than 14 months.
On Friday, the dollar also fell slightly on the cash market – by 11 kopecks, to about 38.10 UAH/$1.
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.
