Monetary base in Ukraine hits record high level

Monetary base in Ukraine in April grew by 4.8%, to UAH 412.24 billion, or US$15.70 billion, which is a record high level.

The growth in the first four months of 2018 was 3.3%, the news outlet Ukrayinska Pravda reported, citing data of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU).

In March 2018, monetary base was UAH 393.23 billion, or US$15.01 billion.

The previous peak was in February 2018 when this indicator stood at UAH 404.83 billion, or US$15.46 billion.

The growth of monetary base in April was backed by an increase in cash in circulation outside banks (by 2.5%, to UAH 331.618 billion, or US$12.66 billion), and by the expansion of banks' reserve funds (by 15.5% to UAH 80.622 billion, or US$3.08 billion).

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The growth of monetary base in recent months may be due to the issuance of hryvnias for the purchase of foreign currency on the interbank market, it said.

In April, the NBU bought US$326.7 million on the interbank market. The net forex purchase by the Central Bank was estimated at US$302.7 million.

Money supply (M3) in Ukraine in April 2018 increased by 1.9%, to UAH 1.191 trillion, or US$45.5 billion. These dynamics were due to both the growth of the balance of bank deposits (by 1.7%, to UAH 859.119 billion, or US$32.8 billion), and the amount of cash in circulation outside banks (M0), the NBU said.

In general, money supply has shrunk by 1.5% since early 2018.

The level of dollarization of money supply decreased to 30% compared to 31% in March 2018 and 32% in 2017.

The country's net international reserves in April rose by 5%, to US$ 6.661 billion, bank debts on refinancing loans fell by 4.8%, to UAH 59.973 billion, or US$2.29 billion.

Since the beginning of the year, net international reserves have shrunk by 0.2%, while bank debts on refinancing loans have decreased by 12.6%.