On 23 January 2012, First Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Yurii Kolobov participated in the year-opening General Meeting held by the European Business Association. The meeting was attended by the representatives of banking and finance sectors, as well as business structures.

The meeting was focused on the economic development of Ukraine, performance of the National Bank of Ukraine in 2011, as well as challenges and risks faced by the Ukrainian economy and banks.

First Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Yurii Kolobov pointed out that the macroeconomic fundamentals in 2011 appeared to be better than experts had expected at the beginning of the year.

“We are pleased that the National Bank of Ukraine managed to achieve macroeconomic stability in 2011, as evidenced by GDP growth, inflation rate and foreign exchange market stability. According to estimates made by the National Bank of Ukraine, real GDP grew by 5% in 2011. Therefore, a rigid monetary policy pursued by the National Bank of Ukraine did not hinder economic growth. The inflation rate stood at +4.6%. These facts are regarded as positive achievements of Ukraine. We managed to maintain stability in the foreign exchange market, including in its cash segment. This trend persisted in January 2012,” stated Yurii Kolobov.

According to the First Deputy Governor of the National Bank, the banking sector also demonstrates positive trends, as evidenced by the growth in assets and liabilities of the banking system. The growth in assets of the banking system stood at +11%, loans – +9% (including in the national currency– + 22%), regulatory capital– +11%, household deposits – +13%. Yurii Kolobov put emphasis on the fact that the growth rates of key performance indicators of Ukrainian banks are comparable with EU figures, being even somewhat higher than those of EU banks.

“New laws (on enhancing bank transparency, supervision on a consolidated basis, protection of creditors’ rights) initiated by the National Bank of Ukraine were passed in 2011. We managed to prevent capital outflows from the banking system. The National Bank of Ukraine has not appointed the provisional administration to any bank in the last six months. Overall, the banking system demonstrates a stable and smooth operation and does not require additional stress testing, which laid the foundation for an improvement in the investment climate,” assured Yurii Kolobov.

When giving answers to questions put to him by the meeting participants, the First Deputy Governor of the National Bank said that Ukrainian banking system faces the same challenges as the banking systems of other countries do. In particular, they are related to the unfolding euro area debt crisis. The primary objective of the National Bank of Ukraine is to maintain macroeconomic stability, which can be achieved by maintaining price stability.

“We make efforts to continue our cooperation with the International Monetary Fund under the Stand-by Facility, which can be seen as a positive sign for foreign investors and will contribute to an increase in capital inflows into the economy of the country. The other objectives of the National Bank of Ukraine are to move towards de-dollarization of the economy and create the conditions for channeling the capital to the real sector of the economy,” said Yurii Kolobov.