Bankers positively assess the further development of Ukraine’s financial sector, but corruption has returned as a main risk.

A majority of the top managers of banks and non-bank financial institutions surveyed by the NBU reported an improvement in the state of the financial sector over the last six months, with 57% against the 3% in November 2022. According to the survey, the share of respondents expecting a deterioration in the next six months decreased from 51% to 3%.

In addition, for the second survey in a row respondents improved their assessments of the financial sector’s resilience to significant negative events. Assessments of the general level of risk are also significantly enhanced – the share of respondents who considered it high or very high decreased from 83% to 58%. Survey participants continue to improve their assessments of the financial sector’s current state – the balance of responses (+11%) turned positive for the first time since the war.

The primary risk for the financial sector remains the war with Russia. Still, risk factors including corruption, the activities of law enforcement agencies, and the judicial system returned to second place.