The Ukrainian hryvnia has sharply lost value on the foreign exchange market, and the US dollar exchange rate on the interbank market has exceeded the mark of 40 hryvnias. The cash dollar exchange rate has reached 40.40 UAH/$, and the card exchange rate is moving towards 41 UAH/$.
Today, May 23, a new exchange rate maximum was set on the interbank foreign exchange market - for the first time in the history of the hryvnia, the exchange rate exceeded level 40. Actual transactions on the Bloomberg platform (main) were recorded at the level of 40.01 UAH/$, which had not happened before.
Last week ended on the interbank market at 39.52 UAH/$, and this week started at 39.67 UAH/$.
Today's trading on Bloomberg started quite calmly and even sluggishly - at 39.84 UAH/$, by noon a very small trading volume was recorded - about $50 million. Everything changed before the lunch break, when the rate reached 40 UAH/$ for the first time. After that, exporters and speculators became more active, the trading volume doubled and reached $161.2 million. 20 minutes before the closing of the deal, the price was 40.01 UAH/$, and the official market closing was slightly lower - at 39.98 UAH/$.
At the end of the day, the National Bank set its official exchange rate at UAH 39.92/$ (as of May 23) – a new historical high. The National Bank exchange rate has never been this high before.
Previously, the National Bank explained the exchange rate jumps by large sales of dollars from its gold and foreign exchange reserves. The treasurers even developed a rule: the more currency the NBU sells, the higher the exchange rate will be. It was said that this rule is based on a secret formula by which the regulator forms the value of the dollar on the interbank market every day. However, this was not observed today.
The National Bank's sales on Bloomberg were estimated at $85-88 million out of a total of $161.2 million, or 53-55% of the market. Therefore, bankers have another version of what is happening - that the NBU is trying to lure exporters to the interbank market with a high exchange rate, and at the same time is trying to manually raise the dollar to the indicators set in the state budget.
"Everyone remembers that the 2024 state budget set an exchange rate of UAH 40.7/$, and tax revenues, which are constantly lacking, depend on its implementation. This is what the National Bank is constantly criticized for - for not implementing the exchange rate at which the budget was calculated, and now the problem is especially acute. After all, the budget deficit has increased again, and the Ministry of Finance said the other day that it lacks approximately $5 billion in 2024. Now it is clear that some part of this deficit will be covered by the devaluation of the hryvnia, which we are currently observing. It will be a boon for the government. And for the NBU too - because the higher the dollar exchange rate, the greater the motivation for exporters to return foreign exchange earnings to Ukraine. Now more dollars are being used for agricultural purposes, and the appreciation of the dollar will motivate farmers to sell currency even more," the chairman of the board of one of the banks explained the situation to "Strane".
Following the interbank market, the dollar also rose in price on the black market today. The day began with currency sales at 40.09 UAH/$, and ended at 40.33 UAH/$. The purchase price rose from 39.04 UAH/$ to 39.5 UAH/$.
In bank cash desks, the maximum selling rate of cash dollars reached 40.40 UAH/$, this price tag was set by the state-owned Sense Bank and four other structures – A-Bank, Accordbank, MetaBank and Crystalbank. The average cost is 40.21 UAH/$, and the average working range is from 40.05 UAH/$ to 40.35 UAH/$. The purchase of American currency was in a wide range – 39.15-40.10 UAH/$.
The card dollar is already moving up to 41 UAH/$. Today, bank card rates were from 39.65 UAH/$ (Ukrsibbank) to 40.85 UAH/$ (Acordbank) on sale and in the range of 38.86-40.04 UAH/$ on purchase.
The average price of a dollar when purchased by individuals for current accounts (with the right of instant withdrawal) up to UAH 50,000 per month was UAH 40.08/$. The minimum price tag here was UAH 39.97/$ (Motor Bank), and the maximum was UAH 40.95/$ (Avangard Bank).
