OREANDA-NEWS. April 1, 2010. In March 2010, NBU increased its international reserves by USD 1.4bn to USD 25.5bn. At the same time, the official exchange rate appreciated slightly (by 0.8% to UAH/USD 7.93). The interbank exchange rate appreciated by a similar amount (by 0.8% to UAH/USD 7.92).

Millennium Capital: the slight revaluation of hryvnia may be accounted fro by the increase in foreign exchange supply related to the growth of foreign investment, including around USD 160mn proceeds from placement of sovereign bonds (OVDP). Meanwhile, foreign exchange demand has remained relatively stable through March, since the government was able to redeem the sovereign bonds with own funds (around UAH 5bn from OVDP placement). Millennium Capital believes that along with the funds obtained from the state owned banks as OVDP financing (UAH 2.6bn in March), the Government of Ukraine will have enough funds to redeem OVDP in April 2010 (UAH 4.5bn). As a result, Millennium Capital expects the hryvnia exchange rate to vary around UAH/USD 7.97 in April 2010.