Central banks of Ukraine and UK to cooperate to counter COVID-19

Ukraine and the United Kingdom have agreed to cooperate and share experiences in measures of governments and central banks to counter the coronavirus pandemic.

Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Kyrylo Shevchenko said this at his first meeting with British Ambassador to Ukraine Melinda Simmons on August 12, the NBU press service reported.

The parties discussed some important issues, such as the current state of the Ukrainian economy and the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, continued cooperation with international partners, future NBU policy and further steps in reforming the financial system of Ukraine.

Melinda Simmons and Kyrylo Shevchenko agreed to cooperate and share expertise in the following areas: measures of governments and central banks to counter the pandemic, introducing green technologies in the economy, regulating the nonbank financial market, and advancing financial inclusion.

“The main NBU goal is to remain a predictable and open partner. Close relations with international partners are the achievements of previous years, and we intend to put maximum effort to keep them as they are. For our part, you will observe responsibility regarding all assumed commitments and continued consistent NBU policy,” Shevchenko noted.

As Ukrinform reported, since the beginning of quarantine in Ukraine, the National Bank has reduced the discount rate from 11% to 6% in order to reduce the impact of coronavirus on the economy.

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