The weakest rate of the Ukrainian hryvnia against the U.S. dollar was fixed in February 2015 / Photo from UNIAN
Today the hryvnia rate corresponds to the level recorded at the beginning of the year and fluctuations that are seen now are normal.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) is not going to fix the hryvnia forex rate at a certain level, as it continues to pursue a flexible forex rate policy and will smooth excess fluctuations in the foreign exchange market.
"We've got a floating forex rate for three years and a half. The National Bank is not responsible for the rate either under the law or under the Constitution. The National Bank's goal is to ensure low, stable inflation rather than a fixed forex rate," NBU Deputy Governor Oleg Churiy said at a round table in Kyiv.
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According to him, the idea of propping up the forex rate is incorrect, since the National Bank does not print dollars and euros. Maintaining the rate at one level is only possible by raising loans in foreign currency or by spending the international reserves.
"From 2011 to 2014, the National Bank spent US$40 billion to support the exchange rate at a certain level. Our debt in foreign currency is US$46 billion. So, you may see: US$40 billion we spent to keep the exchange rate at level 8 [hryvnias per U.S. dollar], and nothing good has happened," Churiy said.
He recalled that after lenders had stopped lending funds to the country, it had started to spend its reserves, which triggered a crisis. It translated into the swift and deep weakening of the hryvnia.
According to Churiy, today the hryvnia rate corresponds to the level recorded at the beginning of the year and fluctuations that are seen now are normal, unlike, for example, the Russian ruble, which has lost 16% in value since the beginning of the year.
As UNIAN reported, the dollar in Kyiv exchange booths was sold on August 28 for UAH 28.10, while the euro was traded at UAH 32.80. Quotations of the hryvnia against the U.S. dollar on the interbank forex market were established at the level of UAH 28.02/28.07 per U.S. dollar by the middle of trading.
Quotations of the hryvnia against the euro were at the level of UAH 32.76/32.79 per euro, those against the Russian ruble at UAH 0.41/0.42 per ruble.
The weakest rate of the Ukrainian hryvnia against the U.S. dollar was fixed in February 2015, it was UAH 30.01 per U.S. dollar.