At the end of the week, the dollar exchange rate on the interbank market fell by 25 kopecks, even without the intervention of the National Bank

The reduction of information and psychological pressure regarding a possible Russian military invasion of Ukraine somewhat reassured investors, who reduced the purchase of foreign currency on the interbank market to withdraw assets from Ukraine. As a result, the dollar exchange rate after reaching the psychological level of 29 UAH/. at the end of trading decreased to 28.68 UAH/.. At the same time, the National Bank on Friday did not enter the interbank market with interventions, and the supply of foreign currency exceeded demand.

Last week was not easy for the National Bank, which had to step up sales of foreign currency in order to maintain the hryvnia exchange rate. Since Monday, the dollar exchange rate has grown daily by 10-20 kopecks, and on Thursday it reached 28.92 UAH/., but on Friday it decreased to 28.7 UAH/.. The National Bank sold foreign currency daily on the interbank market, and during January 24-28 it sold 7 759.5 million, while in previous weeks it sold 3 321 million and.330.7 million. In total, in January, the National Bank purchased 2 20 million and sold.1.5112 billion.

Exporters could not restrain sales for a long time, so after the exchange rate reached the highest level, they activated the sale of the currency. Experts expect that this week the exchange rate will stabilize at the level of 28.5 UAH/..

The monetary and financial Department of Citibank reported that currently there are no panic sales of Government Bonds by non-residents, as it was in 2020, when rates rose from 11% to 20%. At the beginning of 2022, the portfolio of government bonds held by non-residents amounted to UAH 92-93 billion, but now it has decreased to UAH 83-84 billion, as some investors decided to wait and not buy new government bonds after the securities were repaid in January.

Stabilization of the hryvnia exchange rate in the near future will contribute to the activation of non-residents ' investments in government bonds.