You have probably already noticed that last week the cash exchange rate of the dollar fell noticeably. True, "greenbacks" are being sold at a suspiciously uniform rate – 5.40-5.41 hryvnias per dollar. The thing is that the NBU introduced a restriction on exchange rate formation: when setting the buying and selling price of currency, one cannot deviate by more than 2 percent from the official rate. That is, if the NBU rate is 5.30 hryvnias, then dollars can be sold at a price no higher than 5.40-5.41. Of course, at first such relatively cheap dollars were not available in many exchange offices. And this gave encouragement to the guys from the "black market." Especially since panic sentiments are spreading among Ukrainians. We have already written about the price shock, and now the dollar is also sending incomprehensible signals. According to the press service of the regional NBU, in July Volyn residents bought 2.5 million dollars in banks and sold 5.8. In September people brought 4.4 million to exchange offices and bought 6.1 million dollars. At first such an increase in demand for the dollar was explained purely by seasonal fluctuations. Supposedly, the people gathered the harvest and ran to buy "greenbacks." These days the National Bank admitted that the exchange rate fluctuations were "reinforced by a number of other factors, such as socially oriented measures carried out by the Government, which led to an increase in the volume of money supply, especially its cash component." So, a few weeks before the presidential election, the NBU must "stand to the death" in order to keep the dollar exchange rate. In such conditions the country's main bank decided to saturate the currency market with cash as fully as possible. First of all, the procedure for importing dollars from abroad was simplified. Restrictions on currency exchange were also lifted: previously, an exchange office could sell people as much currency in a day as it had bought. Now this norm has been abolished. Last Tuesday the leadership of the NBU department in Volyn region discussed "currency issues" with the heads of the region's banks. The financiers were warned about inspections of exchange offices and operating cash desks regarding compliance with NBU requirements. Also indicative in this situation is that people have recently begun to invest more funds in currency deposits. Such a situation is characteristic both of August, when there was no talk yet of danger to the hryvnia, and of October, when currency excitement reached its apogee. The most obvious issue of exchange rate formation will be placed in the hands of citizens – the people themselves will decide what exactly

Yuriy Konkevych