The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has lowered the level of rates recommended to commercial banks for deposits.
As the NBU reported in a telegram to banks, by NBU board resolution No. 33 of February 9, 2005, banks are recommended, when determining the price of attracted funds in the national currency, to be guided by the NBU discount rate (9%) plus 5-7 percentage points (depending on the term of fund attraction), and in foreign currency - by the Libor rate (as of February 9, the annual Libor was 3.33%) plus 1-3 percentage points (depending on the term of fund attraction).
This decision was made based on the situation on the money and credit and foreign exchange markets, as well as inflation dynamics in the country, the National Bank's telegram notes. In addition, the decline in key monetary indicators (the monetary base decreased by 2.9% in January, the money supply - by 0.1%) is consistent with the NBU's policy of curbing inflation (the inflation growth rate in January fell to 1.7% compared to 2.4% in December 2004). The NBU notes that such dynamics were primarily the result of a decrease in cash outside banks (by 4%), which indicates an improvement in the structure of the money supply (the share of cash outside banks in the money supply in January decreased from 33.6% to 32.3%).
According to NBU data, the volume of banks' correspondent accounts increased by 4%, or UAH 0.3 billion, in January 2005, primarily due to the NBU's foreign exchange interventions on the interbank market, the volume of which amounted to USD 0.7 billion.
Also, the restoration of liquidity in the banking system, according to the NBU's assessment, is evidenced by the fact that in January banks early repaid UAH 0.7 billion out of UAH 1 billion in stabilization loans that were provided to banks during the crisis in the money and credit market at the end of last year, as well as by banks' active participation in auctions for the placement of NBU deposit certificates and banks' insignificant demand for refinancing loans.
According to National Bank data, individuals' deposits increased by 6.3% in January 2005, both due to an increase in deposits in the national currency (by 6.6%) and in foreign currency (by 6.0%), and this enables banks to lower rates on both attracted and placed funds.
Recall that on December 6, 2004, the NBU recommended that banks raise the level of rates for attracting funds for a term of up to 1 year: from individuals in hryvnia from 14% to 15%, in foreign currency - from 5% to 6%; from legal entities in hryvnia from 7% to 7.5%, in foreign currency - to keep at the level of 3%. It was also recommended to raise rates for attracting funds for a term of more than 1 year: from individuals in hryvnia from 16% to 17%, in foreign currency - from 7% to 8%; from legal entities in hryvnia from 8% to 8.5%, in foreign currency - to keep at the level of 5%.
Based on "Podrobnosti" materials