The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) backs the idea of cutting the discount rate, which has been 10.25% since August 12,2009, according to Valeriy Lytvytsky, the head of the group of advisors to the NBU governor.
“I can draw a conclusion from my dialog with Volodymyr [Stelmakh,
NBU governor] that the likelihood of cutting the discount rate is
actually higher than its remaining at the present level,” he told
Interfax-Ukraine on Monday.
He did not disclose the date of consideration of the issue by the NBU board.
As reported, Ukrainian Premier Yulia Tymoshenko has many times
criticized the high level of the NBU discount rate. NBU Council head
Petro Poroshenko and First Deputy Head of the Presidential Secretariat,
Oleksandr Shlapak have supported the idea of cutting the rate.
A well-informed source in the central bank told Interfax-Ukraine
that the discount rate was not discussed at a Monday meeting of the NBU
board. The board discussed the realization of a president’s decree on
resumption of the stability in the banking system (No. 813).
