(The news story is updated)
The NBU Council and Board have agreed on setting the official hryvnia rate for the second half-year at 4.85 UAH/USD plus/minus 4%.
Council Chairman Petro Poroshenko and NBU Governor Volodymyr Stelmakh announced this at a joint press conference after a meeting of the NBU Council.
"Today we have an absolutely common position on the exchange policy. The official hryvnia to dollar rate for the second half of 2008 is set at 4.85 UAH/USD with a possible deviation of plus/minus 4%. This is the indicator which is included in the Monetary Policy Basics," Poroshenko said.
He added that the NBU Council voted unanimously for adoption of this decision.
Poroshenko noted that during the formulation of the exchange policy NBU will also consider changes in the dollar to euro rate and exchange rates of the national currencies of the countries who are the main trade partners of Ukraine.
Stelmakh said the NBU Council considers that a transition to the floating hryvnia rate is premature today.
"A memorandum with the government provides for a transition to the policy of floating exchange rate, but to make this transition immediately... The NBU Council has considered [the issue] and decided that it is premature. We have to give signals to the business of ours," he said.
The NBU governor mentioned changes in prices of energy resources among the factors that may cause exchange rate fluctuations within the limits of the above-said corridor.
"We have an issue that bothers all of us. I mean the issue of our critical imports. If in terms of gas we know the price and it is fixed until the yearend, in terms of oil, prices are jumping and peaks [exchange rate fluctuations] are possible," he said.
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, the NBU Council and Board had been unable to come to terms on the official hryvnia rate before.
On May 21, the National Bank of Ukraine raised the hryvnia official exchange rate by 20 kopecks to 4.8500 UAH/USD.
On May 22, the NBU Council vetoed the NBU Board decision on hryvnia revaluation but the board overrode the veto and again set the hryvnia official exchange rate at 4.8500 UAH/USD.
On May 26, the NBU Council decided to set up a working group to review the hryvnia's forecast exchange rate of 4.95-5.25 UAH/USD that was approved for 2008.
