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The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) does not intend to artificially maintain a currency fluctuation corridor and will buy and sell the currency at a rate that is determined by the market, the NBU Governor Valeriya Gontareva said in an interview with Ukrainian weekly Novoe Vremya.
"We don't pursue a task to maintain the rate. Our task is price stability. Moreover, we have not even set any corridors,” Gontareva said. “Today, the National Bank is ready to buy foreign currency at UAH 21, and you can see that today banks sell us currency at the rate of UAH 21."
Currently supply in the country exceeds the demand, according to the NBU. Since the beginning of the year, the banks have purchased foreign currency worth over $1 billion from individuals, which, according to Gontareva, evidences the fact that individuals sell it actively, rather than purchase.
Gontareva says, since the beginning of the year the NBU has bought more than $1.4 billion in the interbank market. In the last month alone the NBU has bought over $220 million. The NBU governor says the trend is an indicator of financial stability.
Read alsoGontareva simplifies withdrawing currency abroadGontareva notes that the situation began to level off at the rate of UAH 21-22 per U.S. dollar in March-April.
"Balance of trade - the relationship between a nation's imports and exports - has evened, and the NBU has replenished its reserves with the help of the bailout funds from the IMF, the World Bank, and also by issuing securities under the guarantee of the U.S. government," Gontareva said.
"Today we can say that we are overcoming a stress period. A GDP growth has been recorded in the third quarter," said Gontareva.
As UNIAN reported earlier, the National Bank of Ukraine attributes the resumption of inflation in September following two months of deflation to the seasonal increase in prices for clothes and footwear.
According to the NBU, the increase in administratively regulated tariffs accelerated to 2.6% in September. In particular, tariffs for housing services in September rose 2.4%, which was primarily due to an increase in electricity tariffs by 24.9%.
According to the NBU, inflation in Ukraine was recorded at 2.3% in September 2015 as compared to August.
In annual terms (September 2015 to September 2014), inflation slowed to 51.9% from 52.8% in August.
Since the beginning of the year, January through September, consumer prices in Ukraine have increased by 41.4%.