The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has changed a procedure for transactions with certificates of deposit by eliminating the opportunity to effectuate transactions with NBU certificates of deposit through trading on the stock exchange, according to a posting published on the regulator`s website.
The corresponding decision has been made taking into consideration the recommendations of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission, and it has been based on the fact that the NBU certificates of deposit are one of the standard instruments for regulating liquidity in the banking system, which are the liabilities of the central bank, and, therefore, refer neither to securities nor to financial instruments, according to the statement.
The decision will have no negative consequences for investment opportunities of banks. Banks` interest in trading the NBU certificates of deposit has significantly reduced since the start of the year due to a gradual cut of the key policy rate. While in January-May 112 exchange-traded agreements for the total amount of UAH 11.2 billion were executed, from June on not a single one was executed, the regulator said.
At the same time, banks still have an opportunity to execute agreements with the certificates of deposit of the NBU in the OTC market, which is now more common than executing agreements in the stock exchange market.
As UNIAN reported earlier, the NBU decided to lower from September 16 its refinancing rate by 0.5 percentage points, or to 15% per annum. The regulator is cutting rate for the fifth consecutive month. In March 2015, the NBU raised its refinancing rate to the historic high level in the Ukrainian banking system: to 30% from the earlier 19.5% per annum. On August 28, the NBU cut its refinancing rate to 27%, and on September 25, it was cut to 22% per annum.
The NBU`s inflation target is set at 12% +/- 3 percentage point for 2016.
