The NBU is considering lifting restrictions on currency withdrawals to service old debts.

The head of the NBU, Andriy Pyshnyi, said: “Currently, we see the presence of sufficient prerequisites for continuing the process of currency liberalization following the strategy approved as part of our cooperation with the IMF.”

He emphasized that this strategy is not based on a calendar schedule but on prerequisites, the achievement of which allows the National Bank to take the following steps to ease the currency restrictions that have been introduced following the war’s onset.

According toPyshnyi, the NBU sees grounds for completing the first stage, which provides for certain easing regarding new dividends, lifting the ban on importing services, and currency liberalization with the possibility of servicing old debts. He added that the NBU is in the final stage of adopting these decisions.

Currently, most of the currency restrictions that the NBU introduced at the beginning of the war remain in effect. Among them is the ban on private businesses transferring currency abroad, even for the purpose of paying off foreign debt. For large businesses, removing these restrictions will allow the servicing of external loans and Eurobonds.