On Monday, November 2, immediately after the start of trading on the interbank foreign exchange market, the National Bank began massive currency intervention in order to prevent the continued collapse of the hryvnia against foreign currencies. In just 5 minutes, the NBU sold more than 200 million dollars at a price of 45.43–45.45 UAH. However, there were many more willing to buy non-cash currency. And even despite such actions of the regulator, quotes crept up and by the time of writing had risen to 45.525 UAH on the "bid" position.
At 10:52, the volume of transactions in the Bloomberg trading system amounted to 259 million dollars – about 2.5 times more than at the same time last Friday.
The main reason for such a large demand for non-cash currency is the beginning of a new month. Banks have reset the limits for online purchase of currency by the population on cards and deposits [to 200,000 UAH per month on a currency card and to 200,000 UAH per month – on a currency deposit – Ed.]. To avoid a gap in the currency position and comply with the NBU norms, banks are forced to buy the required amount of non-cash currency on the interbank foreign exchange market. The simultaneous entry with the purchase of several banks at once provoked this rush.
The euro on the interbank foreign exchange market of Ukraine on Monday soared upwards and by the time of writing rose by 37 kopecks in an hour of trading – from 50.67 UAH to 51.04 UAH on the "bid" position. On the international foreign exchange market FOREX, there is a fall in the dollar as a reaction to the preliminary results of the midterm elections to Congress, according to which the Democrats get the majority. The growth of the euro against the dollar is a positive factor for the interbank market: when the dollar becomes cheaper in the world, it often becomes cheaper in Ukraine as well. But for now, its impact is not felt yet.
