Page 68 - UKRRptFeb24

does not currently provide for the return of the principal amounts and the body of the corresponding obligations. This will happen at the next stage of currency liberalization. The primary purpose of currency restrictions is to encourage new money to enter Ukraine. At the same time, the President of ICC Ukraine, Volodymyr Shchelkunov, believes that the economic situation in the country is changing for the better and that there is no longer a need to apply strict currency restrictions. Instead, they hinder the attraction of investment to Ukraine. After all, it is necessary to remember that any investor’s main goal is making a profit. If there are problems with earning a profit, this negatively affects the investment climate indicators. “The NBU has chosen the right course to ease currency restrictions and should not stop removing all other obstacles," Shchelkunov summarized.
The NBU reduced its net sale of currency by more than $140M. Net currency sales by the National Bank in January decreased to $530.9M compared to $673.3M a week earlier, according to NBU. The National Bank bought $100,000 and sold $531M on the interbank foreign exchange market. Since Monday, the hryvnia has strengthened by 0.8%, or ₴0.31, and by 1.3% compared to the exchange rate at the beginning of this year, or about ₴0.48. The hryvnia exchange rate at the end of the week was ₴37.52 for $1.
In December 2023, Ukrainians bought $807.5M more in foreign currencies than they sold, a record in 2023 and over the past few years. Ukrainians sold currencies worth $1.258B and bought $2.065B. In 2023, the population bought $3.362B more than they sold.
The volume of cash currency imports into Ukraine in October 2023 increased to $1.56B in equivalent, while this indicator amounted to $1.33B in November. For comparison, in August and September, this indicator was $435.2M and $577.7M, respectively.
In December, Ukrainians set a record for foreign currency purchases over the past 11 years. In the last month of the year, the net currency purchase amounted to $1.026B. During December, citizens sold $1.57B in currency to banks and bought $2.596B. Since the beginning of 2023, Ukrainians have sold $18.2B and bought $23B.
68 UKRAINE Country Report February 2024 www.intellinews.com