Ukrainian stock exchange closes, hryvnia gets fixed

Ukraine's state stock market regulator has announced on Thursday had decided to stop the circulation of all securities in the country, except for operations necessary for the central bank's monetary policy and the finance ministry's public debt servicing.

The central bank has banned foreign currency purchases on the interbank market and fixed the official hryvnia exchange rate on 24 February, Governor Kyrylo Shevchenko said today, as Ukrainian assets suffered after Russian forces invaded Ukraine.

Shevchenko said foreign currency sales would not be limited. He said the bank was prohibiting the issuance of cash in foreign currency and limiting cash withdrawals from accounts to 100,000 hryvnia (USD 3,356.67) a day.

Ukraine’s National Bank said earlier on Wednesday it had sold USD 2.1 billion so far in 2022 to stabilize the hryvnia exchange rate.

"The National Bank emphasizes that the situation in the foreign exchange market remains under control," the bank said in a statement.

"Ukraine has a sufficient amount of international reserves – about USD 28 billion ... In addition, the international community has already announced large-scale financial assistance packages to Ukraine," it said.

Cover photo: Mikhail Tereshchenko\TASS via Getty Images