UNIAN
The ubiquitous currency exchange kiosk, long a feature of streets and shops in Ukrainian cities and towns, may be a thing of the past under new proposals from the National Bank of Ukraine.
"We have decided to initiate the making of amendments to the decree on currency regulation to exclude non-banks offices from the list of organizations entitled to trade currencies," the first deputy head of the NBU, Alexander Pisaruk, said during a press conference in Kyiv on Tuesday.
Demand for currency has risen in Ukraine as an anxious public seeks to insulate its savings against a falling national currency and rising prices.
As UNIAN reported earlier, the net purchase of foreign currency by the public (the excess of currency purchases over sales) in 2014 amounted to $2.410 billion, which is $469.5 million less than in 2013, when it was $2,880 billion, according to figures on the central bank’s Web site.
Based on NBU data, in December, the banks bought $148.1 million from the public and sold $195.2 million, with net currency purchases amounting to $47.1 million.
Over the last year, the Ukrainian national currency the hryvnia has lost about half of its value against the dollar, hitting a new historic low of UAH 15.85.
Commercial bank exchange rates, including commission and pension fees, have reached UAH 19-20 to the dollar.