Ukraine Prime minister explains hryvnia drop in early 2018

"The rate is freely regulated ... For example, in January, we are observing a decrease in Ukrainian exports. If there is a decrease in exports, less currency comes into Ukraine. Moreover, Ukraine has been making external payments," the prime minister told Ukraine's ICTV channel.

He noted that this caused an imbalance, which in turn provoked depreciation of the national currency.

"There are certain imbalances and fluctuations in the exchange rate, which is quite flexible. However, when everything starts working normally, when we start exporting, the situation will stabilize and everything will remain within the forecast range. Last year we saw the same situation," the prime minister stressed.

Read alsoUkraine's central bank spends over $182 mln to prop up hryvnia in DecAs UNIAN reported earlier, since December 18, 2017, the Ukrainian hryvnia has been updating its minimum annual rate almost daily, approaching its historical minimum of UAH 30 per the U.S. dollar. In 2017, the devaluation of the hryvnia against the dollar stood at 88 kopiykas, or 3.2%. Hryvnia's historic low against the U.S. dollar was at UAH 30.01/USD in February 2015.

A U.S. dollar in Kyiv exchange offices on January 19 cost UAH 28.90, while the euro sold for UAH 35.40.