Business news from Ukraine

VOLUME OF SALES OF FOREIGN CURRENCY BY NATIONAL BANK FROM JUNE 20 TO JUNE 24 DECREASED TO $933 MLN

26 June , 2022  

The volume of currency sales by the National Bank of Ukraine from June 20 to June 24 fell to $933.02 million from $1 billion 55.6 million a week earlier.

According to the information of the National Bank on its website, last week it acquired $7.5 million, which is in the range of volumes of the last six weeks (from $5.5 million to $8.3 million).

Thus, the net sale of currency amounted to $925.5 million, which is better than last week, but still quite a lot – this is the third largest volume of weekly interventions since the beginning of the war.

As reported, the NBU raised the discount rate from 10% to 25% on June 3 in order to increase the attractiveness of the hryvnia and reduce pressure on the country’s international reserves. And earlier, from May 21, the National Bank canceled the upper limit of both the cash selling rate by banks in Ukraine and the hryvnia conversion rate into foreign currency on their cards outside the country, and also halved the ceiling for cashing hryvnia cards abroad – to the equivalent of 50 thousand .UAH per month.

These measures made it possible to reduce the volume of interventions in the first two weeks of June, but last week they rose again, exceeding $1 billion for the second time since the start of the war.

At the same time, thanks to the measures taken by the NBU, the dollar exchange rate on the “black” market fell from UAH 37.5-38.5/$1 with a significant reduction in the spread and almost equaled the rate in bank exchangers. Last week it was about 35.55-35.8 hryvnia/$1, this time the hryvnia grew a little – up to 35.4-35.6 hryvnia/$1.

As reported, NBU interventions in May rose to $3.4 billion from $2.2 billion in April, $1.78 billion in March, $0.31 billion in February and $1.31 billion in January.

Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko previously predicted that Ukraine’s international financial support would rise to $4.8 billion in June from $1.5 billion in May. The National Bank of the country is also counting on such growth, whose international reserves in May decreased by about $2 billion to $25.1 billion. $3 billion or more.

In total, from the beginning of the year to June 24, the National Bank purchased $1 billion 848.6 billion and EUR110.97 million on the market, and sold $12 billion 156.1 million and EUR1 billion 789.11 million.

Including since the beginning of the war, the purchase of foreign currency amounted to $1 billion 191.7 million and EUR110.97 million, and the sale of $9 billion 385.9 million and EUR1 billion 789.11 million.

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