OREANDA-NEWS. On 02 March 2009 was announced, that the UAH/USD interbank exchange rate fell to 9.30 (mid rate), while increased to 8.85 by the end of the day. Today, 26 February, the interbank market opened with UAH/USD 8.93 and climbed to UAH/USD 8.40 by the midday.

Millennium Capital sees the main reason in the UAH exchange rate fall slowdown to be the NBU’s announcementthat it will sell foreign currency to the commercial banks at its official rate in order to enable banks’ retail clients to repay their foreign currency loans. The announcement may have stimulated positive exchange rate expectations of the commercial banks and reduce their demand for the foreign currency. Though this news is POSITIVE, Millennium Capital considers it to be temporary, since the NBU’s reserves may not suffice for a long time. In particular, according to Millennium Capital’s estimates, population needs around USD 0.6bn each month to repay their loans, while free reserves of the NBU amounted to around USD 4bn at the beginning of February.

Millennium Capital is an integrated financial services provider. Established in 2000 by a group of professionals with solid background in securities and corporate finance, Millennium Capital is now one of the major investment banking institutions.