By KYIV. May 8 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The total use of funds from cards of Ukrainian banks abroad in the first quarter of 2023 amounted to the equivalent of $3.48 billion, which is 5% or $180 million less than in the fourth quarter of 2022, the National Bank of Ukraine reported in its inflation report.
“Due to high security risks, at the beginning of 2023, a significant number of Ukrainian migrants remained abroad, and their expenses led to a stable outflow of currency under the “travel” item, including by withdrawing cash from cards abroad,” the National Bank states.
According to its data, cash withdrawals decreased by 7.4%, to $1.68 billion, while retail spending decreased by 2.7%, to $1.78 billion.
According to it, the volume of cash outside banks increased to $3.2 billion in the first quarter of 2023.
Transfers to cards and transactions in ATMs from Ukrainian cards abroad remained at the same meager level – $20 million.
“Due to the significant number of migrants abroad, the outflow of currency under the items “travel” and “cash outside banks” will remain significant. However, starting from 2024, the return of migrants will become one of the determining factors in reducing the outflow of foreign currency due to both a decrease in the import of services under the “travel” item and a slowdown in the increase in cash outside banks,” the NBU expects.
Referring to UN estimates, the National Bank indicates that in the first quarter of 2023, the number of migrants outside Ukraine continued to increase: 600,000 more Ukrainians left than returned. The total number of Ukrainians remaining in Europe at the end of the quarter amounted to 8.6 million people, of which 5 million people have temporary protection status in the EU.
“A further increase in the number of migrants was in line with the NBU’s expectations, but the slowdown in migration processes turned out to be faster than expected in the January forecast,” the NBU stated.
