NBU aims for cashless economy, to halve cash to GDP ratio by 2020

09:53, 12.05.2016 1 min read

The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) believes one of the priorities is the development of e-payments and the reduction of the volume of cash in the economy and plans by 2020 to halve the cash to GDP ratio from 14.6% in 2015 to 7.5%, according to a report on the NBU page on Facebook, with reference to NBU Deputy Head Vladyslav Rashkovan.

"Among the majority of developed countries Ukraine shows up with a high cash to GDP ratio. In 2014 the figure was 18.1%, in 2015 it decreased slightly, to 14.6%. At the same time, the volume of cash in circulation did not change. The example for Ukraine in this context is Poland, whose figure stands at 7.5%. According to NBU preliminary estimates, it is planned to reach a similar figure in 2020," the banker said.

He stressed the project of cashless economy is the priority for the NBU.

According to a study conducted for Visa by Moody's Analytics, the spread of electronic payments contributed to the growth of Ukraine's GDP by almost $460 million (or 0.07% of GDP) in the period from 2011 to 2015.