Dollar Continues to Rise: Cash Currency Market Overview

Cash exchange rates continue to rise steadily. Demand for cash currency is fueled both by events on the interbank market, where today the historical maximum for non-cash dollar was renewed, and by negative political news.

By the end of Tuesday, the selling rate of cash "American" in wholesale exchange points of the capital rose by 8 kopecks compared to yesterday – to 45.13 UAH.

In Dnipro and Lviv, by evening the dollar was sold at 45.15 UAH, in Kharkiv – at 45.18 UAH, and in Odesa – at 45.25 UAH. The increase compared to yesterday ranged from 5 kopecks in Lviv to 15 kopecks in Odesa. Today Odesa took over from Kharkiv the title of "the most expensive dollar in Ukraine".

Ukrainian banks seem to have started competing on who will raise price tags more. The cheapest dollar by Tuesday evening was sold by MTB Bank – at 45.15 UAH (15 kopecks more expensive than yesterday's minimums), and the most expensive – by Zaporizhzhia-based Metabank, at 45.60 UAH.

The hryvnia began to fall not only against the dollar, but also against the euro, which today tried to correct on FOREX. If yesterday evening the cheapest euro was sold at 50.55 UAH in Oxi Bank and Ukrgasbank, today it is already at 50.68 UAH in Raiffeisen Bank. Moreover, as soon as the euro started to rise, significant demand immediately formed: according to "Kurs Ukrainy" portal, in a number of banks the euro disappeared from sale altogether.

Cash currency market operators reported to "Kurs Ukrainy" portal about a shortage of new-style dollars (so-called "blue dollar"). In all wholesale exchange points of Ukraine, they are sold 10-20 kopecks, and sometimes more, more expensive than dollars of the 1996-2006 series (so-called "white dollar").