The volume of Ukraine's international reserves remains sufficient, despite its reduction by 22.8%, or by $7.248 billion, in 2012.
“We have sufficient reserves. They are enough to fulfill all our obligations,” said the head of the group of advisors to the National Bank governor, Valeriy Lytvytsky.
At the same time, he said that the National Bank is ready to continue protecting the hryvnia exchange rate from speculative influences, including through currency interventions: the NBU does not set some minimum level of international reserves, a reduction below which is not allowed by the central bank.
However, he said that the National Bank does not intend to artificially maintain the hryvnia rate.
“We will follow the market, we have no any figures regarding the exchange rate,” he said.
“If we see that the rate is affected by a force of the environment, agiotage, or weak demand, we will perform interventions at a certain time and in certain volumes,” the official said.
Lytvytsky noted the introduction in November 2012 of the obligatory sale of 50% of forex earnings and stressed that the central bank has not exhausted its supply of economic and administrative levers to influence the situation.
He said that in late December the NBU resumed forex purchases on the interbank foreign exchange market.
