The National Bank of Ukraine received the Central Bank of the Year award by Central Banking Awards. The prestigious international award recognizes the effective work of the National Bank of Ukraine last year amidst full-scale war.
Financial Stability in Times of War
The National Bank of Ukraine made a series of effective decisions in the first days of the war, optimizing monetary and exchange rate policies to maintain financial stability. Despite a significant drop in exports and the forced migration of millions of Ukrainians fleeing the war, the country’s financial system maintained confidence in the national currency and relative stability in the foreign exchange market.
The National Bank of Ukraine also ensured the smooth functioning of the banking system through a coordinated effort of banks and previous reforms of the banking sector. Data security and information protection were prioritized, along with the continued full operation of the payment infrastructure for cashless payments. Even with numerous cyberattacks, the country’s financial institutions were able to operate without disruptions. To protect banks’ information and information systems, the National Bank of Ukraine enabled the use of cloud services to process and store information from bank systems in the clouds.
Communication and Confidence
The National Bank of Ukraine communicated regularly with the public, businesses, financial system participants, and government agencies, helping to avoid panic at the outbreak of full-scale hostilities. This also maintained a high level of predictability of the regulator’s measures and understanding of their preconditions by the public and financial market participants. Effective cooperation with international organizations, central banks, and government agencies of partner countries helped to maintain financial stability in Ukraine.
The NBU’s Power banking project ensured the uninterrupted provision of financial services in the face of energy terror, maintaining the confidence of households and businesses in the banking system. Despite the war, individuals’ funds in banks continued to grow steadily.
Governor Andriy Pyshnyi expressed his gratitude to every employee of the National Bank of Ukraine for their coordinated and efficient work. “The NBU has managed to demonstrate to the world its professionalism and composure, its ability to fulfill its mandated duties under any circumstances, to act promptly and unconventionally to ensure the smooth operation and stability of the financial system. We will not turn off this path”, commented NBU Governor Andriy Pyshnyi.
