Ukraine monetary base climbs 0.2% in October

Ukraine’s monetary base climbed 0.2% m/m (UAH 0.7 bln)
to UAH 425 bln in October after rising 0.6% m/m in September, the National Bank
of Ukraine (NBU) stated in a provisional report released on Oct. 13. The
monetary base has increased 6.5% YTD. Money supply dropped 0.4 m/m to UAH 1,245
bln. Money supply rose 3.0% YTD.

Evgeniya Akhtyrko: Several
factors contributed to monetary base growth in October. Firstly, due to boosted
NBU foreign currency purchases during the month (net USD 199 mln), a
significant amount of hryvnia was disbursed to the system.

Secondly, treasury residuals dropped by UAH 6.7 bln to
UAH 14.6 bln, pointing to more generous public spending. Finally, the NBU
continued to refinance banks, disbursing UAH 0.6 bln for this purpose during
the month.

As of October, the YTD increase of the monetary
base exceeded our 2018 forecast of 6.1% YTD.