Ukrainians were net sellers of foreign currency in June
2 July 2015
Individuals in Ukraine sold USD 174 mln more in foreign cash than they bought in June, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported on July 1, citing Serhiy Parkhomenko, the official of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU). The supply of foreign currency exceeded demand at the ForEx and the NBU managed to purchase USD 240 mln at the market, he said.
Alexander Paraschiy: A near-zero current account balance, as well as continued support from Western partners maintained stability at the ForEx market. The hryvnia has been hovering in the range of UAH 21-22/USD and the public did not pay much attention to exchange rate selling out foreign currency accumulated previously.
Still, serenity isn’t guaranteed through the end of this summer. Ongoing talks of a potential default against the backdrop of the dramatic developments in Greece might spoil the positive tendency on individual purchases of foreign cash. What’s more, the upcoming localelections and accompanying nervousness will fuel demand for foreign cash. Nevertheless, we do not expect the threats of default to come to reality and thus we do not expect a new currency panic to erupt. In light of this, we are keeping our projection for the hryvnia at UAH 23/USD by the end of 2015.
