You're reading: Households keep $50 billion in cash, central bank estimates

The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has estimated the amount of U.S. dollars in cash held by individuals at $50 billion, according to Oleksandr Dubykhvist, the director of the NBU's department of foreign exchange reserve regulation and transactions in the open market.

“According to the most modest estimates, $50 billion is cash in hand. Let’s ask the question: could these cash dollars that are being used in the shadow economy as the blood of that economy pose a threat to national economic security?” he wondered.

Erik Naiman, a partner of the Capital Times investment company, previously estimated the amount of individuals’ cash dollars at $30-40 billion.