The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has said that currency restrictions could be gradually lifted earlier than was planned, NBU Deputy Governor Dmytro Solohub has said.

"We have the plan on lifting restrictions. It is not a calendar plan anymore, but it focuses on the conditions… The message I'm bringing is that the resolution was passed on July 3, then it was changed on September and this does not mean that we will wait until December 3 to lift [the restrictions] if we see an opportunity for lifting them," he said at the UA SME Banking Conference held in Kyiv on September 7 and September 8.

Solohub said that it is easy to introduce currency restrictions but it is hard to lift them, giving Iceland as an example, where it took seven years to lift currency restrictions.

"Of course, we don't want to wait for seven years. We have the phase of initial macroeconomic stabilization and when we really see that the economy is entering the next phase – restoration, this would be the signal to lift the restrictions more radically," he said, adding that the early lifting of currency restrictions could worsen the situation on the currency market, which would affect the trust of the public in power agencies.

A source on the baking market told Interfax-Ukraine that the mitigation of restrictions on dividends repatriation is considered as a primary task, as the present ban hinders the attraction of investment to Ukraine.

As reported, the anti-crisis measures which the NBU introduced in 2014-2015, have been extended for another three months until December 4, 2015.