By KYIV. Dec 16 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Net sales of dollars by the National Bank of Ukraine this week jumped to $862.5 million from $544 million a week earlier, the last time the NBU sold more was in the first week of the transition to managed exchange rate flexibility in early October.
According to data on the central bank’s website, as of the week, the hryvnia exchange rate on the interbank market weakened by almost 0.8%, or 28 kopecks – to UAH 37.0211/$1, while the rate depreciated on Monday-Wednesday, while on Thursday-Friday it was relatively stable.
NBU Governor Andriy Pyshnyy explained the increase in demand for currency and the movement of the exchange rate as a traditional seasonal factor at the end of the year.
“Currently, we are witnessing a process of seasonality that was already common in pre-war times for us, when at the end of the year the need for foreign currency increases. The expenses that accumulate throughout the year are being absorbed. Usually they do not have time to be sold,” he said during a briefing in Kyiv on Thursday.
At the same time, compared to the fixed rate of UAH 36.5686/$1, which the National Bank held from the end of July 2022 until October 3 of this year, the hryvnia is now only 1.2% cheaper.
The exchange rate on the cash market this week repeated the movement on the interbank market, but not on such a scale. As a result, by the end of the week, the hryvnia on it weakened only by about 17 kopecks – to UAH 37.55/$1, and the spread between the rates of the two markets narrowed again.
