Financial journalist Olena Lysenko accused the National Bank of Ukraine of orchestrating the devaluation of the hryvnia
9 January 20:02
ДУМКА
Financial journalist Olena Lysenko has sharply criticized the actions of the National Bank of Ukraine and its leadership, stating that the current weakening of the hryvnia is the result of deliberate decisions by the regulator, not merely market factors. She wrote about this on her Facebook page.
According to her, against the backdrop of statements about an alleged “information attack” on Andriy Pyshnyy, the hryvnia has lost significant ground.
“While we were sympathizing with the poor head of the National Bank, Andriy Pyshnyy, and his crocodile tears over the ‘information attack’ he invented, (..) (he, – ed.) quietly devalued the hryvnia. The interbank rate crossed a new psychological threshold of 43 UAH/$, and the official euro rate jumped past 50 UAH/€,” Lysenko writes.
The journalist predicts that the NBU will explain the situation by citing a seasonal decline in foreign exchange earnings and an increase in dollar sales, but considers these arguments unconvincing.
“Of course, the NBU will tell you about the decline in our exporters’ foreign currency revenues at the beginning of the year, and that will be true. They’ll add that the National Bank had to increase dollar sales from reserves—that’s half-true, because the increase happened only a few times and wasn’t significant (last year, excess sales were higher, and there was no such devaluation then). And the National Bank’s patriots will say that we went through this scenario (with the collapse of the hryvnia exchange rate) last year already, and Ukrainians should have gotten used to the rape,” the author adds.
In her opinion, the current exchange rate movement is a repeat of Andriy Pyshny’s already-tested scenario:
“According to his scenario: the hryvnia exchange rate must be allowed to fall, say, to 43.1 UAH/$ and everything necessary must be done, and then it must be brought back to 42.80–42.90 UAH/$ and we must wait for a new ‘savior’s decree.’”
Separately, Lysenko criticizes official inflation figures and urges people not to equate them with actual prices.
The journalist also draws attention to public statements by NBU leadership regarding the independence of monetary policy, but immediately emphasizes that these followed after the IMF demanded that Ukraine devalue the hryvnia.
“(The decision on devaluation, — ed.) as we can see, has already been made and is being implemented, while the independence of the regulator and its head is merely for show and not worth a bag of chaff,” the author states emotionally.
Lysenko also notes that there have been no changes in the status of the National Bank’s leadership despite political scandals:
“No matter how much Pyshnyy is accused of cronyism with Yermak or called a ‘wallet,’ the NBU’s leadership reshuffles have not affected him. The NBU head has been turned into a sacred cow.”
Separately, the journalist criticizes the model of interaction between the NBU and the banking sector.
“Ukrainian banks continue to derive most of their interest income not from lending to the real sector of the economy, but from the National Bank’s deposit certificates,” Lysenko explains.
In conclusion, she speaks of the need to change the regulator’s leadership.
“The only hope today is for a real change in the leadership of the National Bank,” the author concludes.
As reported by
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