Photo from UNIAN
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has bought $4.7 million from banks in the first regular auction for purchase of foreign currency to increase international reserves.
The cutoff rate of the auction was UAH 21.70 to the dollar, while the weighted average rate was UAH 21.5777 to the dollar, according to the NBU website.
As UNIAN reported earlier, in order to accumulate international reserves, the NBU starts regular auctions for the purchase of foreign currency on the interbank foreign exchange market, which will be open to all banks. The regulator plans to buy foreign currency in small amounts - up to $10 million per day at an affordable price in order to avoid pressure on the hryvnia exchange rate.
Read alsoCentral Bank chief says next year inflation 12%After the National Bank of Ukraine switched from the fixed exchange rate in 2014 to the flexible system (including two months in 2015), the hryvnia has lost its value against the benchmark U.S. dollar by 3.8 times and hit a historic new low of UAH 30.01 per dollar.
After introduction of the NBU restrictions and the allocation of the first tranche under the IMF new cooperation program with Ukraine, the hryvnia strengthened with the exchange rate fluctuating within a range of UAH 21-23 per U.S. dollar in the past five months.