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The National Bank of Ukraine continues to adhere to the flexible exchange rate policy and wants to avoid the so-called exchange rate band policy, NBU Governor Valeriya Gontareva has said.

“Actually, I cannot tell you that the National Bank sticks to the currency exchange rate band policy. Today we have a bid and offer. It is 10% and gives enough space for maneuvers to our market,” she said at a press conference at the NBU on Thursday.

Gontareva said that the central bank adheres to the flexible exchange rate which is in line with the fundamental element of the country’ balance of payment. She said that in the past four months the country’s balance of foreign trade and the current transaction account were balanced, and the NBU has enough forex reserves – $12 billion.

“Our market mentally has got used to the so-called 10% band. However, the National Bank does not give any liability that we would set any bands,” she said.

Gontareva also said that the central bank plans to boost forex reserves.

“Now, the NBU is ready to do this in the unrestricted amounts at the price of UAH 21/$1. However, if we fundamentally understand that we’re ready to buy currency at the lower or higher exchange rate, we would set our lower exchange rate,” she said.

She said that since early 2015, the NBU has bought $1.3 billion from the market and is ready to continue doing so.

She said that the ambitious task is to boost forex reserves to $18 billion by the end of 2015, or four months of imports, although the key source of their replenishment would be international financial aid.

Gontareva said that in the past several months, Naftogaz Ukrainy has stopped buying currency directly from the NBU and bought almost $700 million on the market.

She said that the cash currency market is stable: in July alone Ukrainians sold $135 million of currency more than it bought, and since early 2015 the surplus has exceeded $1 billion.

From August 28 NBU has also decided to cut its refinancing rate from 30% to 27% , and has also cut the rates on the NBU’s active and passive operations – the refinancing rate for overnight credits secured by state bonds – from 33% to 29% per annum.

The NBU retained the rate for overnight deposit certificates at 18% per annum.