Courtesy of Mish.
The Ukrainian central bank publishes the official exchange rate daily.
At the time of this posting, the “official” exchange rate is 16.24 Hryvnias to one US dollar (posted as 1624 to a hundred dollars), nearly identical to the chart below.
The above chart show the Ukrainian Hryvnia is down about 50% since the beginning of 2014.
Black Market Masks Decline
That’s a pretty steep decline, but the true picture is much worse. A black market has developed because the official peg is too generous.
Ukrainian citizens have crossed the border, maxed out debit cards with cash transactions at the official rate, then cashed in on the difference.
And exporters selling goods at the official rate have started to complain about huge losses.
Merchants will gleefully give you 16 Hryvnias for a US dollar, but you will lose mightily on the transaction because the black market rate is more like 21.5.
Exchange at the official rate and you immediately lose about 25%.
Freely Floating Hryvnia Announced
…
