The devaluation of the national currencies of the CIS states and the decline in economic growth across the region will have no significant impact on the Ukrainian economy and the exchange rate of the hryvnia, according to Valeriya Gontareva, chief of the Ukraine’s Central Bank.
"The effect of the devaluation of the Russian ruble and other currencies of the CIS states will have a limited impact on the hryvnia exchange rate due to a drastic decline in Ukraine's foreign trade with these countries in recent years," said Gontareva.
She recalled that the share of CIS countries in Ukraine’s total exports decreased to 22% in January-July 2015 (compared to 35% in 2013).
"Therefore, the fall of currencies and a slowdown of economic growth across the region will have no significant impact on our country’s economic performance," she added.
Gontareva noted that the devaluation of the currencies of the CIS countries will reduce the competitiveness of Ukrainian goods in the region. Nevertheless, a margin of safety, which domestic manufacturers were able to accumulate over the past 1.5 years is sufficient enough to offset the devaluation of currencies of Ukraine’s trading partners.
UNIAN reported earlier, the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine sees no reasons for the devaluation of the hryvnia after the fall of the CIS currencies and the collapse of commodity prices, including the market for oil, metals and agricultural products.
According to the Deputy Minister of Finance Ihor Umanskiy, the hryvnia is stable. "If we pursue the program [of reforms], which we have scheduled, I see no major reasons for the devaluation of the hryvnia,” he said.
Also, UNIAN reported that the long-term and significant fall in oil prices, and also the devaluation of the currencies of leading world economies, in particular China, have resulted in the past few weeks in depreciation of currencies in South-East Asia, Africa and the Middle East - the main oil exporters. Russia, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, and a number of African countries suffered the most in this regard. According to experts, this situation could pose a threat to Ukraine by the fact that these countries, except Russia, represent major markets for Ukrainian products.