NBU provides most refinancing when Tymoshenko was MP, Stelmakh NBU head, says Gontareva
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) provided the largest volume of refinancing to banks when Yulia Tymoshenko was prime minister and Volodymyr Stelmakh was head of the central bank, NBU Governor Valeria Gontareva said while speaking in parliament on Friday.
"The debt for all refinancing credits provided by the NBU over the whole history of its operation amounts to UAH 110 billion today… UAH 77.7 billion was issued when Tymoshenko was prime minister and Stelmakh was NBU head. They [the funds] have not yet been returned," she said.
She said that since she has been the NBU head refinancing debt has fallen by UAH 1.7 billion.
She said that since early 2015 citizens withdrew UAH 18 billion from banks, when in 2014 the outflow reached UAH 126 billion.
In the current conditions NBU is to support the possibility of banks paying depositors, she said.
"The NBU is obliged to support banks, providing refinancing credits to them," she said.
Gontareva also said that in 2014-2015 the Deposit Guarantee Fund received 44 banks for them to be removed from the market, including 11 banks in 2015, and that the banking system had lost almost UAH 200 billion or 9% of GDP.
She said that UAH 50 billion of the sum is to be refunded via the Deposit Guarantee Fund (almost 10% of the revenues of the Ukrainian budget): as of February 25, UAH 18.5 billion has been paid to the depositors of insolvent banks.
Gontareva's speech was disrupted by lawmakers who blocked the tribune in parliament.
