On 1 March 2012, Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Sergiy Arbuzov held a working meeting with Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Cuba Marino Murillo.

The sides discussed issued related to the development of the Ukrainian economy, sate policy in the monetary and banking sphere, exchange rate stability and an improvement in the investment climate.  

“I feel confident that today’s meeting will give us an opportunity to improve cooperation between the Republic of Cuba and Ukraine,” said Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Sergiy Arbuzov.

Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Cuba Marino Murillo emphasized that economic renovation is under way in his country, which undergoes various transformations. According to him, the Republic of Cuba aims to alter its development model of productive forces, giving priority to a planned economy and administrative management. However, they acknowledge the importance of the market economy principles. The Cuban delegation showed interest in the monetary policy pursued by the National Bank of Ukraine and monetary instruments used in Ukraine.

When giving answers to questions put by Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Cuba Marino Murillo, Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Sergiy Arbuzov pointed out to the fact that Ukraine had demonstrated positive macroeconomic fundamentals in the previous year and at the turn of 2012. “The Ukrainian economy demonstrated robust macroeconomic indicators, with inflation having fallen below the target.  At the beginning of 2011, we expected inflation to stand at 7.9%. However, inflation stood at 4.6%. Furthermore, the annual rate of consumer inflation declined to 3.7% in January 2012.

According to him, the above measures taken by the National Bank of Ukraine managed to calm down the market participants and pick investors’ interest in Ukraine. For this reason, the National Bank of Ukraine pursued a loose monetary policy. “According to the laws of Ukraine, the National Bank’s top priority is to maintain price stability. Our main task was to curb the price increases in 2011. We are planning to promote industrial production growth. Therefore, we have cut an interest rate on refinancing loans twice this year. As a result, investors will be able to allocate their funds without having to worry about the future. Our top priority is to level off the exchange rate and interest rate policy and we have succeeded in it,” said Sergiy Arbuzov.

The Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine said that the crucial task for Ukraine is to achieve the neutral balance of payment: “The BOP current account showed a deficit last year. Ukraine imports a lot of energy carriers. Firstly, we are trying to put the BOP current account on track and afterwards we are planning to ramp up the export volumes.”

According to Sergiy Arbuzov, the National Bank of Ukraine monitors the situation and the funding for industries whose products have an impact on the inflation dynamics, in particular, construction industry and agriculture. If Ukraine promotes the development of these important industries, it will boost domestic production and GDP growth.

At the conclu8sion of the meeting, Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Sergiy Arbuzov thanked Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Cuba Marino Murillo for attending the meeting.

The sides agreed to develop cooperation.