22 September 2022, Thursday, 14:19 106

NBU's Assets Up By 3% To UAH 1.4 Trillion In H1

Редактор: Daria Zubkova

The assets of the National Bank of Ukraine increased by 3% to UAH 1.4 trillion in the first half of 2022.

This is stated in the message of the NBU, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

On September 19, 2022, the interim condensed consolidated financial statements of the National Bank of Ukraine for the first half of 2022 were signed.

Thus, according to the results of the first half of 2022, the volume of assets of the National Bank increased by 3%, if compared with consolidated data as of December 31, 2021, and amounted to almost UAH 1,417 billion.

At the same time, resistance to Russia's full-scale armed aggression against Ukraine significantly affected the structure of the National Bank's balance sheet.

In particular, as a result of the National Bank's purchase of war bonds, the share of Ukrainian securities in the NBU's portfolio increased from 23.5% (at the beginning of the year) to 39%.

On the other hand, in connection with the decrease in the volume of gold and foreign exchange reserves, the share of assets forming them decreased from almost 63% (at the beginning of the year) to 48% (in particular, due to the decrease in the share of non-resident securities).

As of the end of the first half of 2022, the loan portfolio of the National Bank decreased by 9.7%, despite its temporary significant increase at the beginning of the war - as a result of the National Bank taking urgent measures to maximally simplify banks' access to refinancing instruments, which made it possible to ensure an adequate level of liquidity banks, as well as maintain control over the situation and smooth operation of the banking sector as a whole.

Half of the total loan portfolio consists of long-term loan debt, for which the amount of debt decreased by more than a quarter.

In terms of liabilities of the National Bank, in the first six months of 2022, bank balances increased significantly (by 40%), in particular due to a decrease in the volume of deposit certificates (by 11%).

On the other hand, the volume of liabilities to the International Monetary Fund decreased by 8.3%, which is primarily due to the planned repayment of part of the debt to the Fund in the first half of 2022.

The amount of the consolidated profit of the National Bank for the first half of this year was UAH 69.7 billion.

The main part of this result of the National Bank's activity is interest income - more than UAH 41 billion, which is 1.7 times more than in the corresponding period last year.

This is due to both the increase in the volume of interest-bearing assets and the growth of interest rates.

The overall result was also significantly affected by the results of the revaluation of financial instruments - in the amount of more than UAH 42 billion.

The consolidated profit reflected in the financial statements of the National Bank is not part of the profit before distribution, which is subject to transfer to the State budget.

The obligation of the National Bank in the part of profit for distribution, which is subject to transfer to the State budget, will be formed based on the results of the entire year 2022 and made public in the spring of 2023.

The forecast expectations of the National Bank regarding the amount of part of the profit before distribution for 2022, which will be transferred to the State budget in 2023, is UAH 19.4 billion.

This information has already been reported to the Government, the President and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

The final amount of the part of the profit to be distributed by the National Bank, which will be transferred by the National Bank to the State budget in 2023, will depend on the actual macroeconomic indicators in 2022 and will be determined after confirmation by an external audit and approval by the Board of the National Bank of the annual financial statements of the National Bank for 2022.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, in contrast to previous years in connection with Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine, on February 24, 2022, the National Bank transferred to the State budget part of the profit before distribution in the amount of UAH 18.8 billion, pending confirmation by the external auditor and approval by the Board of the National Bank Consolidated financial statements for 2021.

This amount was later confirmed by an external audit and approved as part of the financial statements for 2021.

On July 21, the NBU adjusted the official hryvnia exchange rate by 25% to 36.5686 UAH/USD.

From August 6, 2022, the National Bank canceled the restriction, according to which banks and non-banking institutions had to buy cash currency from the population at a rate no lower than the official one.

The National Bank allowed banks to sell more currency to the public.

Thus, from September 6, the amount of cash currency that the bank can offer to the population will include the entire amount of non-cash currency purchased by it from April 13, 2022, instead of half of it.