Ukraine central bank slightly relaxes ForEx rules

The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) slightly relaxed its ForEx rules by lifting the foreign currency deposit withdrawal limit to the equivalent of UAH 20,000 per day per person (USD 909) from UAH 15,000 previously.

It also eased the rules for foreign currency purchases for legal entities as non-reserve currencies on accounts will not be considered in calculating foreign currency purchase limits. 

At the same time, the NBU’s major restrictions – including a compulsory sale of 75% of export proceeds and 90-day requirement for export proceed returns – have been extended for the next three months.

Alexander Paraschiy: With these moves, the NBU wants to send a positive signal to market players that the situation is improving and it’s optimistic about the future. In essence, this signals that if the outlined positive tendency on external accounts will continue, more easing steps will be taken. Still, we should not expect a radical relaxing of ForEx regulations in the nearest future. The IMF has insisted on substantial accumulation of gross international reserves before any real ForEx deregulation.