Money supply in Ukraine 3.3% down, cash 6.2% down in Jan

Money supply in January 2017 shrank by 3.3%, to UAH 1.066 trillion, according to the preliminary monetary and credit statistics posted on the website of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU).

The NBU said that the pace was mainly linked to reduction of off-bank cash by 6.2%, to UAH 294.997 billion.

Deposits in January 2017 narrowed by 1.8%, to UAH 779.463 billion, including by 2.3% in hryvnias, to UAH 415.877 billion.

"The effect of the high comparison base in December 2016 contributed to his. It was linked to large budget spending at the end of the year, including payment of pensions in advance and a record-breaking VAT refunding using monetary funds," the NBU said.

Deposits in foreign currency (in the U.S. dollar equivalent) in January 2017 fell by 1.8%, to $13.075 billion. The NBU said that the exchange rate of UAH 27.12/$1 was taken in calculations.

The corporate credit portfolio of banks in January 2017 decreased by 1.6%, to UAH 823.539 billion, including a 0.8% rise in the national currency, to UAH 425.655 billion.

Credits issued by banks to households grew by 0.3%, to UAH 160.46 billion due to the increase of the credit portfolio in the national currency by 1.6%, to UAH 75.736 billion.

Credits in the national currency fell by 0.4% and in foreign currency (in the U.S. dollar equivalent) – by 2%.

The cost of hryvnia-pegged credits in the past 12 months fell by 4.5 percentage points, to 14.9% per annum.