Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko has said that there are currently no grounds for the exchange rate of the national currency to fall, according to a statement posted on the president's official Web site.
"There are currently no factors that may have a negative effect on the stability of the hryvnia exchange rate, apart from the one - an uncontrollable budget deficit. But this question can be easily resolved - either with the participation of the National Bank or without it, and through the support of a weak or strict budget policy in Ukraine," he said at a meeting with National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Governor Volodymyr Stelmakh on Tuesday.
Yuschenko expressed concern that the NBU was the only customer of sovereign bonds and that UAH 36 billion had been spent for this goal.
"This position is a serious threat to the destabilization of the hryvnia," he said.
Yuschenko also suggested taking joint steps with the NBU to finance local and state budgets and discussing a number of measures to resume the trust of citizens in the national currency.
"Your task is stable money. This is the only mission of the National Bank. There are no factors in Ukraine influencing the hryvnia's stability," he said.
