The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) plans to allow banks to early repay loans before nonresident banks with a rating not lower than A and redeem eurobonds, NBU Governor Valeria Gontareva has said.

"We also have intention to raise the ceiling advance payment size under import contracts without the use of letters of credit…This will not have a considerable impact on the volume of such payments," she said at a press conference in Kyiv on Thursday.

According to Gontareva, raising the NBU's limit from $0.500 million to $1 million in September last year, which did not tell on the market.

NBU Deputy Governor Oleh Churiy told Interfax-Ukraine that these decisions by the regulator would be published on Thursday, April 13 and they would become effective on April 14. In his words, the limit will be raised from $1 million to $5 million.

These steps will contribute to improving the investment climate and facilitating the activities of exporting enterprises that import for their produce, Gontareva explained.

"Against the background of a favorable situation in the foreign exchange market, positive news about the successful completion of the third review of the Extended Fund Facility program with the IMF and taking into account the balance of risks, the board considers it possible to continue liberalization of currency regulations ... No such step will destabilize the situation," she stressed.

The chief banker also noted that the regulator, as was the case before, focuses, first of all, on removing barriers to foreign trade operations and inflow of direct foreign investments.