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Ukraine's national currency strengthened by 1.4% against the U.S. dollar in 2018, to UAH 27.6883 as of January 1, 2019.
CEO at ING Bank Ukraine Saida Djarbolova predicts there will be no significant weakening of the hryvnia, Ukraine's national currency, in 2019, but hypothetically, this is possible if more money is printed.
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"If we don't expect a huge collapse – and nothing of the kind is expected, then expectations rather than the forex rate itself are more important to the financial sector," she said at a European Business Association event on January 29, answering a question about the hryvnia rate forecast for 2019.
The expert explained that negative expectations fuel Ukraine's narrow financial market, which is sensitive to volatility, which makes the situation worse. That is why bankers are unwilling to comment on the issues related to the forex rate.
"We don't think that the hryvnia will collapse. This is not our scenario. Hypothetically, this is possible if more money is printed, but it may happen 2020 if it ever happens," Djarbolova added.
UNIAN memo. Ukraine's national currency strengthened against the U.S. dollar by 1.4% in 2018, to UAH 27.6883 as of January 1, 2019.
Ukraine's national budget for 2019 is based on the forex rate expected at UAH 29.4 to the dollar by the end of 2019.
According to the consensus forecast compiled by UNIAN on the basis of experts' estimates, the hryvnia exchange rate against the U.S. dollar at the end of 2019 is expected at UAH 30.
On Tuesday, January 29, hryvnia quotations against the dollar on the interbank forex market by the close of trade settled at UAH 27.77/27.80 to the dollar.
The hryvnia's historic low against the U.S. dollar was UAH 30.01 per U.S. dollar in February 2015.