Ukrainians are buying significantly less foreign currency in banks.

In April 2023, the population of Ukraine sold $1.3B in cash and non-cash funds to commercial banks and bought $1.5B. According to National Bank data, the net purchase of currency amounted to $224.2M. So, in April the Ukrainian currency purchase decreased by $200.1M compared to March, when they bought $424.3M.

At the same time, since the beginning of the current year Ukrainians have sold more than $5B and bought $6.8B. Therefore, the net demand for non-cash currency decreased to $19.4M (compared to $147.1M in March).

Ukrainians bought this currency in banks at a rate close to the official rate (UAH 36.6 /$1, plus commission). As the exchange rate fell to UAH 38 per $1 on the cash market in April, these transactions lost almost benefit.