How Ukraine is Managing Cash in a War

The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has maintained the supply of cash and cash circulation to over 1,500 bank branches and more than 3,800 ATMs across the country since Russia invaded in February 2022. The Deputy Governor, Oleksii Shaban, has shared their experience.

Cash is managed through the central vault, four cash circulation units of the central bank located in regions of the country and authorised banks In late 2021, the NBU started to decentralise strategic cash stocks in anticipation of disruption.

The war started at the end of February 2022, leading to a sharp increase in demand for cash. The annual growth rate of cash in circulation (CIC) was 19.9% in February 2022, when the invasion started. CIC increased by UAH 51.2 billion in February. To give a sense of scale, in 2020 the peak monthly increase was in May, when it grew by UAH 28.5 billion. In 2021 the peak increase was UAH 31.4 billion in December.