The official exchange rate in Ukraine surpasses 40 hryvnias per dollar for the first time in history

For the first time in Ukrainian history, the official exchange rate has surpassed 40 hryvnias per dollar. On Monday, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) set the rate at 40.1153 UAH/USD. The interbank market today reached 40.18 UAH/USD, while the card rate hit 40.95 UAH/USD. The NBU has yet to halt the devaluation of the hryvnia.

It is worth noting that the interbank rate surpassed 40 UAH/USD yesterday. Today, May 24, cashless trading on the Bloomberg platform started at 39.99 UAH/USD but stayed at this level for only five minutes before the quotes rose first to 40.09 UAH/USD and then to 40.13-40.15 UAH/USD. This level of real transactions persisted for an extended period. After 3 PM, the price reached 40.18 UAH/USD, and the week on the interbank foreign exchange market ended at 40.16 UAH/USD.

Throughout the day, the asking price reached 40.20 UAH/USD, but this was only requested by exporters, with no real transactions occurring at this rate. However, this figure clearly reflects the devaluation sentiment in the market.

“The market understood that the National Bank is deliberately raising the dollar exchange rate to support exporters and, more importantly, the state budget. This facilitates more profitable conversion of international aid and increases tax revenues, which grow during national currency devaluation (from increased hryvnia revenues of exporters, excises, etc.). Therefore, the exchange rate was freely raised while observing the NBU’s reaction. The regulator did not oppose the devaluation, indicating that it was satisfactory,” commented a bank official.

Today’s trading volume on Bloomberg increased slightly compared to yesterday ($161.2 million) and last Friday ($160.4 million), amounting to $176.7 million. NBU’s sales are estimated at up to $100 million. On average, the regulator covered 53-63% of the market’s needs throughout the week.

On the black market, the day began with sales at 40.19 UAH/USD and ended at 40.36 UAH/USD, with the purchase price rising from 39.4 UAH/USD to 39.70 UAH/USD.

In bank cash offices, the maximum sale rate for cash dollars jumped by 20 kopecks to 40.60 UAH/USD, set by Trust Capital Bank. One bank (Crystal Bank) set the rate at 40.55 UAH/USD, and five institutions set it at 40.50 UAH/USD: the state-owned Sens Bank, Accord Bank, MetaBank, Oxy Bank, and RVS Bank. The average selling price range was 40.15-40.50 UAH/USD, with the purchase range at 39.40-40.15 UAH/USD.

The two largest retail state institutions, PrivatBank and Oschadbank, set their purchase/sale rates at 39.75-40.35 UAH/USD and 39.90-40.45 UAH/USD, respectively.

The maximum card rate added 10 kopecks and nearly reached 41 UAH/USD, hitting 40.95 UAH/USD on sales, recorded at Accord Bank. The average range was 40.0-40.6 UAH/USD for sales and 39.20-39.9 UAH/USD for purchases.

Banks noted an increased demand for cash dollars from the population, confirmed by the latest NBU report on the total volume of cash foreign currency imported by banks into the country: in April (compared to March), it increased by 32% to $1.1 billion. This is more than the corresponding figure for 2023, when only $812.1 million was imported into Ukraine, and the early days of the large-scale war when deliveries were paused due to hostilities. It is also 10.4 times higher than the pre-war figure for April 2021, when banks imported only $108.4 million in cash foreign currency.