Ukraine central bank tightens cash transactions cap to UAH 50,000

The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) decided on Jan. 3 to tighten its restriction on cash transactions for individuals to UAH 50,000 per day as of today from UAH 150,000 previously. Payments above the limit can only occur with bank wires or credit or debit cards. 

Alexander Paraschiy: The NBU was always interested in bringing more operations out of cash for better accountability of money aggregates, which is needed for monetary policy. Yet this is the first time such operations have been restricted since 2013, when the UAH 150,000 limit was set. We think the move was largely motivated by the Privatbank nationalization, which continues to threaten substantial cash outflow from the banking system. The introduced cap will have some effect on keeping cash in the banking system, but it’s very unlikely to impede off-the-books transactions, which are illegal anyway.