In March, money supply in Ukraine grew by 1% m/m (3.8% ytd) to UAH 943.2bn, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has announced. The monetary base had expanded by 6.9 % m/m (by 7.4 % ytd) to UAH 329.7bn.

In March, social and political tensions in the country continued to negatively affect   the money market, with the run on banks slowing down. In March, the total national currency deposits shrunk by 3.2 % to UAH 379.5bn (by 10.1 % ytd). The household deposits decreased by 5.3 % (by 12.8 % ytd) to UAH 221.2bn, with the business deposits shrinking by 0.2 % (by 6.2 % ytd) to UAH 158.3bn.

In March, the total deposits in the foreign currency (in dollar equivalent) edged down by 7.1 % (by 14.0 % ytd) to USD 26.5bn. The household deposits had declined by 6.4 % (by 13.7 % ytd) to USD 19.8bn, with the business deposits decreasing by 9.0 % (by 15.0 % ytd) to USD 6.6bn. The contraction in deposits was accompanied by an increase of 6.1 % in the amount of cash in circulation outside banks (by 12.9 % ytd) to UAH 268.5bn.

In March, the outstanding amounts of national currency loans decreased by 1.1 % (by 2.9 % ytd) to UAH 579.6bn. The amount of loans to businesses went down by 1.1 % (by 3.6 % ytd) to UAH 458.1bn, with loans to households shrinking by 1.2 % (by 0.3% ytd) to UAH 121.4bn.

The outstanding amounts of foreign currency loans (in dollar equivalent) declined by 1.2 % (by 1.3 % ytd) to USD 38.0bn. The amount of loans to households decreased by 2.0 % (by 5.4% ytd) to USD 7.9bn, with loans to businesses diminishing by 1.0 % (by 0.2 % ytd) to USD 30.1bn.

In light of this, the National Bank took consistent measures aimed at ensuring stability of the banking system and providing sufficient liquidity support to banks. In March, the NBU carried out refinancing transactions   worth UAH 32.3bn (from the start of the year – UAH 63.1bn), with an average weighted interest rate thereon standing at 15.66 % per annum (from the start of the year –12.62 % per annum). 

At the same time, the NBU acquired Ukrainian government bonds (at the nominal value) worth UAH 4.4bn and USD 5.0mn (from the start of the year – UAH 26.3bn and USD 5.0mn). In 2014, the NBU has not carried out transactions to sell Ukrainian government bonds from its own portfolio.

In March, the banks’ correspondent accounts with the NBU climbed by 17.5 % (down by 4.3% ytd), to UAH 31.6bn. As of 4 March 2014, the banks’ required reserves compliant with the applicable norms amounted to UAH 31.6bn, of which UAH 6.2bn was transferred to the separate account with the central bank.