Ukrainian households sharply increased purchases of foreign-currency government bonds in October as concerns grew over the weakening hryvnia, marking a notable shift in investor sentiment despite high yields on domestic-currency instruments, reported Ukraine Business News.
According to data from the Finance Ministry, demand for dollar- and euro-denominated government securities surged last month, with household portfolios of foreign-currency bonds expanding by about 150%. Investments in such instruments rose by the equivalent of UAH2.48bn ($59mn), compared with a UAH1bn rise in hryvnia-denominated holdings.
Analysts said the move reflects widespread expectations of further devaluation of the national currency, which prompted investors to seek safer assets despite the Finance Ministry offering hryvnia bond yields of up to 17.8% per year, tax-free. “The fear of currency depreciation has clearly outweighed the appeal of high nominal returns,” one Kyiv-based economist said.
Since the start of 2025, household portfolios of government bonds have grown rapidly, reaching over UAH105bn ($2.5bn) by early November. The total increase since January stands at UAH27.4bn, or 35%, exceeding the level of reinvested coupon payments and pointing to a steady inflow of new retail funds into government debt instruments.
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