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Another increase in the cost of already almost unaffordable loans, being awaited after a boost in the NBU's refinancing rate from 19.5% to 30%, will suspend the development of industry and small- and medium-sized businesses, make it impossible to credit the real sector of economy and significantly lower consumer demand. This evidences the inability of the NBU to manage the processes on the market, influence the banks that violate the terms of refinancing and thus feed the spiraling inflation, according to the Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (ULIE).
"The first thing the NBU should do for the recovery of the Ukrainian economy, development of production, creation of new jobs and reduction of the unemployment rate in the country is to ensure producers' access to bank loans, elaborate specific credit programs for certain spheres of economy jointly with the Cabinet of Ministers. For example, agriculture requires exceptional credit support nowadays. The cost of a sewing campaign is 60-80% higher this year! However, the sphere which in fact feeds the country constantly lacks working capital," ULIE President Anatoliy Kinakh said.
The ULIE experts and the Anti-Crisis Council of Non-Governmental Organizations think that instead of strictly monitoring the implementation of commitments by financial institutions that received refinancing, and detecting and punishing offenders, the NBU continues to tighten the screws in the real economy, thus neutralizing recent attempts to revive economic activity in the country. The conditions for importers and exporters have become even tougher, in particular the obligation to sell 75% of foreign currency earnings by exporters has been prolonged. For almost a year the ULIE has been demanding the regulator to provide domestic exporters with adequate support, create favorable conditions for their work, as it is them who bring foreign currency in the country, but the regulator ignores these demands. The regulation on the sale of foreign currency earnings has been in effect in Ukraine since November 2012, however, it did not bring significant results to the currency market of the country, instead its created serious problems for exporters – they lack in current assets, they have no funds to repay credits, numerous contracts fail.
The industrialists and entrepreneurs strive for constructive cooperation exclusively on the basis of fair market rules, they demand to strengthen the fight against bringing capital in the shadows, destroy numerous corrupt schemes of capital withdrawals abroad, put an end to the practice of squeezing the last resources from businesses.
"Of course, some methods of fight against inflation may be accompanied by a slowdown in production – many developed countries once faced such challenges. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the NBU incorrectly define the reasons for growth of inflation, they write-off their own mistakes and sometimes the obvious lack of professionalism for the account of the war and inappropriate behavior by the population, while the main reasons for the worsening of the systematic crisis include the lack of a joint program of anti-crisis measures and decisive steps in the fight against corruption," Kinakh said.