Ukraine devalues currency over Russian invasion

KYIV: Ukraine’s central bank on Thursday devalued the official hryvnia exchange rate to protect its foreign reserves as Russia’s invasion ravages the economy.

The National Bank of Ukraine said in a statement that it was devaluing the official exchange rate of its currency from 29.25 hyrvnia to the dollar to 36.57 hyrvnia to the dollar in order to boost the competitiveness of Ukrainian products and shore up economic stability while the war continued.

“The new hryvnia rate will become an anchor for the economy and will add its resilience in conditions of uncertainty,” it said in a statement.

National Bank chief, Kyrylo Shevchenko, said the central bank “continues to stand guard for exchange rate stability and takes the necessary measures to balance the currency market situation.”

He said all emergency measures introduced as a result of the invasion would be rolled back once the fighting had ended.

“At the same time, now they enable the economy to survive the war and will contribute to its faster recovery after our victory,” he said.

Ukraine’s economy has collapsed since the start of the war and gross domestic product is set to plunge by 45 percent this year, according to World Bank estimates from June.

A group of Western countries on Wednesday gave the green light to allow Ukraine to postpone interest payments on its debt and called on other countries to do so.