Shlapak promises to stabilize hryvnia this week

Tuesday, September 23, 2014 - 17:20 (EEST) Section: Latest news

Ukrainian Finance Minister Oleksandr Shlapak has said that there is no reason for devaluation of the hryvnia.
He told this to reporters before a Cabinet of Ministers meeting on Tuesday, while commenting on a meeting with the president at the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), a Ukrinform correspondent reported.
“Today is no reason for destabilization of the hryvnia. Our trade flows and capital flows suggest that the exchange rate is absolutely normally balanced at UAH 13. Everything else is the desire to insure currency reserves or make money on currency speculation,” Shlapak said.
He said that efforts to make money would be severely punished by the central bank and, if necessary, prosecuting agencies.
He said that the president had asked the National Bank to “work attentively” with commercial banks and exporters. Shlapak believes that this will help stabilize the exchange rate at UAH 13-13.5 per U.S. dollar this week.
“Currency has currently started arriving, including from agricultural exporters. All this, along with administrative measures, will help stabilize the situation. There will be results this week. I believe that the exchange rate of about UAH 13-13.5 is the maximum rate at which we can keep the situation calmly. This rate satisfies exporters and bankers,” Shlapak said.