National Bank of Ukraine to Raise Discount Rate to 12%

The National Bank of Ukraine will raise the discount rate from 10% to 12% on April 30, NBU Vice-Chairman Anatoliy Shapovalov said yesterday. Shapovalov also said the NBU marked up its overnight rates from 14.5-15% to 15-16% as of yesterday. Polina Khomenko: This is the second time this year the National Bank has increased the discount rate (on January 1 the rate was bumped up to 10%) to curb inflation. The NBU’s discount rate does not play a large role on the lending market (interbank interest rates are already far above the NBU’s discount rate; Kyivprime is currently above 23%), but at the same time it signals that the NBU will continue to pursue a more restrictive monetary policy and that more tightening measures could follow.