OREANDA-NEWS. In September 2016, solvent banks reported a UAH 3.56 billion increase (1.9%) in household deposits in domestic currency, which reached UAH 191.8 billion.* Household hryvnia deposits have grown by UAH 12.1 billion (6.7%) since the beginning of the year.

In the reporting month, the population gave preference to both term deposits and demand deposits. Household term deposits in domestic currency increased by almost 1% to UAH 122.1 billion, while demand deposits edged up by 3.6% – to UAH 69.7 billion.

In September, household deposits in foreign currency (denominated in US dollars) remained virtually flat, amounting to USD 8.4 billion. FX retail deposits have risen by USD 0.16 billion (+1.9%) year-to-date, including a 0.5% increase in term deposits up to USD 6.8 billion.

The growth in household deposits points to growing public confidence in the banking sector. This is evidenced by the fact that deposits keep flowing into the banks despite a gradual decline in interest rates on all types of deposits. The weighted average interest rates on hryvnia deposits fell by 3.6 percentage points, while those on FX deposits declined by 3 percentage points.

The removal of restrictions on cash withdrawals from hryvnia deposits and increasing limits on FX cash withdrawals had no adverse impact on deposit dynamics. On 9 June 2016, the NBU removed restrictions on cash withdrawals from current and savings accounts in domestic currency. Since 15 September 2016, bank customers can receive cash in foreign currency from current and deposit accounts through cashier’s offices and ATMs up to the equivalent of UAH 250,000 per day per customer. Previously, the equivalent amounted to UAH 100,000.