in assistance. in addition, the nbu's and the government's joint efforts have increased the amount of funds that goes into the state budget from the sale of domestic government debt securities. all of this made it possible to successfully finance the significant deficit of the state budget in januarya€ “ may. given the sustainability of international support and the gradual revival of the economy, ukraine will be able to continue to cover all necessary expenditures without going back to monetary financing. the key risk to inflation dynamics and economic development is the longer duration, and the unpredictable nature and intensity, of the full - scale war. although ukraine is gradually liberating its territories, high uncertainty persists over when the active phase of hostilities will end. targeted attacks have led to the loss of civilian lives and caused environmental disasters. the long - term effects of the destruction of the kakhovka hpp are unprecedented in magnitude. it will take time to fully assess them. the prolongation of hostilities continue to threaten ukraine with significant losses of economic potential and with unpredictable inflationary shocks. other risks also persist. they include : the continued destruction of critical infrastructure facilities, including energy infrastructure the emergence of additional budget needs and substantial quasi - fiscal deficits, including in the energy sector and disruptions or a shutdown of the " grain corridor " and the ongoing limitations imposed on imports of ukrainian food by some european countries. conversely, the rapid implementation of ukraine's recovery project, together with european integration reforms, could considerably accelerate the pace of economic growth and reduce inflation at a faster rate. 2 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches in order to maintain exchange rate sustainability, with a view to ensuring a decline in inflation and creating the right conditions for an easing in fx restrictions, it is important that hryvnia instruments remain highly attractive. in view of that, the nbu board decided to keep the key policy rate at 25 % per annum. the key policy rate continues to play an important supporting role in ensuring the sustainability of the fx market and protecting international reserves. keeping the key policy rate unchanged, together with other nbu measures, was instrumental in substantially increasing the attractiveness of hryvnia instruments. this has bolstered households'interest in hryvnia deposits and domestic government debt securities in recent months. time hryvnia deposits also returned to growth. coupled with other factors, this helped boost the resilience of the fx market, laying the foundations for a continued easing in fx restrictions

payments are gradually becoming commonplace in ukraine. thanks to the numerous initiatives the nbu launched while i was in office, the share of cashless payments among all transactions involving payment cards increased from 39 % to 55 %. the nbu has become even more transparent and open. the nbu ’ s current policy is based on a dialogue with banks and nonbank financial institutions, businesses, the expert community, the international community, the media, and our other partners and clients. the nbu ’ s achievements were recognized by the international professional financial community through a prestigious award from the central banking awards, in the category of transparency. all these achievements could easily be reversed. it is much easier to take a step back than the steps forward that it took us years to make. i call on you not to let this happen! let the nbu retain the achievements of previous reforms and go on to new ones. the nbu has a lot of work ahead of it. don ’ t forget that the coronavirus crisis is continuing. we need to maintain financial stability and help ukraine get back on the track to economic growth, without provoking a spike in prices. we need to successfully complete what we started. this includes completing fx liberalization, while not undermining macrofinancial stability with hasty decisions. we have to make the market of nonbank financial services, over which the nbu became a regulator just the day before yesterday, healthy, transparent, customer - oriented and confidence - inspiring. we have to protect the rights of consumers of financial services and enhance financial literacy. the nbu received a mandate for this at the beginning of the current year. we have to make financial services more accessible, and create conducive conditions for the development of innovations in the financial sector. all of that, and many other things, are envisaged by the nbu ’ s strategy for the development of the financial sector until 2025. this requires five years of work, if not more. finally, i would like to thank all nbu employees and all our partners and clients who followed the path of reforms with us. these are financial market participants, businesses, and the expert and scientific communities. our discussions gave rise to the proper decisions, while your support inspired us to keep going. i thank all of the nbu ’ s like - minded people – mps and colleagues in other government institutions who united with the nbu to promote reform. i ’ d also like to thank the nbu ’ s