In April 2008, Ukraine’s monetary base gained 6.3 percent to reach 145 billion hryvnias (up by 2.2 percent since the beginning of the year). The country’s money mass increased 3.3 percent to 429.9 billion hryvnias last month (up 8.5 percent since the beginning of 2008). The National Bank of Ukraine reported the statistics.

The press release indicates that the amount of cash outside banks has increased as social projects are carried, increasing such payments as stipends and pensions.  In April, the amount of the government money (hryvnias) in NBU accounts dropped by 3.2 billion hryvnias (up 8 billion hryvnias since the beginning of 2008). Last month, the amount of money in corresponding accounts increased 7.8 percent to 19.4 billion hryvnias (down 2.5 percent in the first four months of the year).

In April 2008, the NBU earned a total of 1.2 billion hryvnias (19.4 billion hryvnias in January-April) by selling depositary notes at auction.

To support the bank system’s liquidity, the NBU carried out bank refinancing operations to the tune of 12.92 billion hryvnias in April (11.02 billion hryvnias of overnight credits, 223.5 million hryvnias – direct repossession operations with state bonds of Ukraine, 502.1 million hryvnias – swap operations, and 1.78 billion hryvnias – credits provided by tenders to support liquidity of banks).

The average weighted interest rate for refinancing operations in January-April was 15 percent per annum, including 15 percent for overnight credits, 14.6 percent for direct repossession operations with the state bonds of Ukraine, 14.6 percent for swap operations, and 15.5 percent interest rate for credits provided by tenders.

The mandatory reserve amount, formed by the banks in April, was 11.09 billion hryvnias, according to live data.

According to the NBU, the total deposit amount increased 2.5 percent to 309.1 billion hryvnias last month (up10.3 percent since January 1).  The amount of money in individual deposits climbed 3.8 percent to 187.1 billion hryvnias, and the deposits of corporate bodies gained 0.5 percent to reach 121.9 billion hryvnias in April (up by 5.4 percent since the beginning of the year).

Credit investments jumped 2.9 percent to 494.8 billion hryvnias (up by 15.9 percent in January-April). Loans given to corporate bodies grew 1.9 percent in April to 308.9 billion hryvnias (up by 13.8 percent since January), and loans for individuals grew 4.5 percent to 186 billion hryvnias (up by 19.6 percent since the beginning of 2008).

The weighted average credit interest rate in national currency increased from 15.2 percent to 16.9 percent in April. The number of credits in foreign currency grew from 13.8 percent to 14.5 percent last month.

The average weighted interest rate for deposits in national currency increased from 9 percent to 9.6 percent, and the indicator for foreign currency dropped from 5.6 percent to 4.9 percent. The integral deposit interest rate sank from 7.8 percent to 7.7 percent.