Prices for grains and iron ore remained almost unchanged. Uncertainty over the spread of the novel coronavirus, and stronger turbulence on financial and commodity markets saw the Ukrainian FX market respond with deteriorated sentiment and 1/3  BIS central bankers' speeches  increased nervousness. This has led to a sizeable increase in demand for foreign currency, which exceeded the supply, starting last week.
The NBU has been active on the interbank foreign exchange market since last week in order to smooth out large fluctuations of the exchange rate. This week alone, net FX sales by the NBU reached USD 700 million, and the central bank is ready to conduct more FX interventions if necessary.