The weakening of the hryvnia in December was caused by the impact of traditional seasonal factors, in particular, an increase in purchases ahead of major holidays and greater activity of the Finance Ministry on the implementation of the expenditure side of the budget, Acting Head of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Yakiv Smolii has said.
“The end of the year is traditional, nothing special happens,” he said at a meeting with members of the European Business Association in Kyiv on Dec. 15.
Smolii said that in case of very large fluctuations, the NBU entered and would continue to enter the market to smooth them out.
He noted that in general this year the stable situation on the foreign exchange market allowed the central bank to buy almost $1.5 billion for the reserves.
While commenting on the hryvnia exchange rate in the cash market reaching Hr 28 per U.S. dollar, with the government’s forecast in the state budget for 2017 of the official hryvnia rate at the end of this year being Hr 27.8/$1, Smolii said that the NBU does not forecast the exchange rate of the national currency.
He noted that the average annual exchange rate of the hryvnia this year was Hr 26.5-26.7/$ 1, with the rate of Hr 27.2/$1 envisaged in the state budget for 2017.
