bne_newspaper_April_07_2017

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Content:
2 Top Stories
4 The Regions This Week 8 Chart
9 Central Europe
11 Southeast Europe 14 Eastern Europe 17 Eurasia
19 Opinion
21 Lists24 Lists
April 7, 2017 www.intellinews.com
Ukraine central bank chief Gontareva confirms to soon resign
bne IntelliNews
The widely-respected governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), Valeriya Gontareva, confirmed on April 6 that she intends to resign from her post, amid protests by certain groups that accuse her of trying to protect the Ukrainian subsidiaries of Russian banks, though others claim this is yet another example of the “black PR” directed at her by political opponents.
Koruna rises 2% as Czech National Bank scraps currency cap
bne IntelliNews
The Czech National Bank surprised the markets on April 6 with the announcement that it has scrapped its cap on the koruna, though the currency’s orderly 2% rise against the euro suggests that the central bank has managed market expectations well.
The announcement came just days after the end of the central bank’s “hard commitment” to keep the
Valeriya Gontareva, a close business associate of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, has led the NBU since June 2014.
“[Gontareva] confirmed her plans to leave the NBU governor post in the future,” the central bank’s media office said in a statement. “The decision to dismiss the NBU head should be made by the Ukrainian president, while parliament approves it.”
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Investors have poured billions into koruna-denominated assets in recent months as they bet on a jump in the value of the koruna when the regime is lifted.
currency pegged at CZK27 to the euro through the first quarter of the year. Comments from the CNB following a monetary policy meeting on March 30 had caused more confusion about the timing for investors, who have poured billions into koruna- denominated assets in recent months as they bet
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