The second week of summer pleased Ukrainians with some positive reports related to the coronavirus pandemic and quarantine. The number of daily cases remains relatively low, below 2,000. In connection with the stabilization of the epidemiological situation, the Cabinet of Ministers eased some quarantine measures, the hryvnia exchange rate strengthened by 18 kopiykas, while inflation rose to 9.5% per annum – these are the key economic developments of the outgoing week.
The Ukrainian currency in the last weeks of spring pleased citizens with stability. The Ukrainian currency has recently shown an upward trend after sliding in April amid Russia's military escalation. So should Ukrainians worry about the hryvnia exchange rate in the coming period of summer holidays?
4 min. 279 The Cabinet of Ministers has capped gas prices for household consumers, while the National Bank maintained its key rate and estimated the drop in GDP in 2020 at 4.4% - these are the main economic developments of the outgoing week.
The third week of January began with frosts, unusual for recent years, amid some hot news coming from the energy sector.
After a wave of rallies against tariff spikes swept across the country, the government moved to establish a fixed gas price of UAH 6.99 per cubic meter for household consumers from February until the end of the heating season. On behalf of President Zelensky, the government is adopting a resolution that sets the cap for gas prices at UAH 6.99 per cubic meter. This price will be valid until the end of the heating season, or until the end of quarantine. Suppliers will not be able to raise prices above
4 min. 341 In the first days of the new year, the national currency began to gradually strengthen after sliding towards the end of 2020. Experts say that the basic economic factors are favorable for the hryvnia and predict it will be relatively stable in the near future.
The end of 2020, dramatic in many respects, was a bit nervous for the hryvnia, but after the New Year holidays the situation calmed down, and every day the national currency keeps gaining a few kopiykas.
In the last month of 2020, the national currency fluctuated within a one-hryvnia range, while demonstrating some strengthening in mid-December.
At the beginning of December, the hryvnia exchange rate against the U.S. dollar reached UAH 28.63. However, then the Ukrainian currency began to regain positions, and by the middle of this month the dollar dropped below UAH 28, the minimum value bei
Anatoliy Amelin, chief for economic programs at Ukrainian Institute for the Future Speaking of the outlook for the next year, it s important to understand that there are many factors beyond Ukraine s borders that affect our economy more than government decisions. These are the moves by global players to overcome the consequences of the pandemic, these are possible protectionist measures applied in various countries.
Also, high geopolitical risks remain in place – this includes Russia, which, even if there s no further military escalation, invests money in shaping up the media field in Ukraine, developing pro-Russian political forces. Respectively, this will be a powerful cluster of destabilization. There s also turbulence in Europe, elections in the UK, Germany – Merkel s replacement for another player could also change [Germany s] policy towards Ukraine.