The dollar exchange rate on the interbank market reached a record 42 UAH

Yesterday, the dollar exchange rate on the interbank foreign exchange market of Ukraine rose to a record 42.03/42.05 UAH/$, which is 12% higher than at the beginning of the year. On December 24, the National Bank increased the official exchange rate by 0.1149 UAH/$, to 41.991 UAH/$.

 

In December, the exchange rate growth accelerated amid increased demand for foreign currency and a reduction in foreign exchange earnings due to a decrease in agricultural exports caused by the introduction of new rules for issuing tax invoices on December 1.

 

In December, demand for currency increased as expected, so to cover the structural currency deficit, the National Bank increased the sale of currency, and during December 16-20, it sold $1.417 billion on the interbank market, which was 32% higher than the sales volume in the previous week ($1.076 billion) and became the largest volume since 2022, when $1.424 billion was sold on May 23-27. In total, in 2024, the NBU sold $32.8 billion on the interbank market.

 

Demand for cash currency has also increased sharply in Ukraine. During the first 10 months of 2024, banks imported $12.88 billion worth of currency into the country, which is 81.4% more than in 2023 and the largest volume since 2013.

 

We will remind you that the Ministry of Economy predicted the dollar exchange rate for 2024 at 40.8 UAH/$, and the draft budget for 2025 included an exchange rate of 45 UAH/$.

 

The State Statistics Service has published the first estimate of Ukraine's GDP for the third quarter of 2024, according to which real GDP grew by 2%, although in the first quarter the growth was 6.5%, and in the second - 3.7%, that is, economic development is slowing down.

 

Optimistic expectations of an end to the war in Ukraine in 2024 have changed to pessimistic forecasts of the war continuing into 2025, which has a negative impact on the economy.