tight monetary policy as well as the benign global price environment for ukrainian exports in the first half of the year, and the record harvest of grain crops in the second half of 2018, the hryvnia strengthened by 1. 4 % over the year. this is the sign of stabilization in the foreign exchange market of ukraine. at the same time, ukrainians now trust the nbu ’ s ability to smooth out excessive market fluctuations. this is proven by the fact that even russian aggression in the kerch strait and the imposition of the 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches martial law have not caused any major panic on the foreign exchange market. we highlighted developments on the foreing exchange market and continued to be active in the market, thus preventing panic among market participants and households. the stronger hryvnia allowed the nbu to increase international reserves throughout the year by purchasing foreign currency on the interbank market. external financing became another source : ukraine received a new program of cooperation with the imf, which lays the groundwork for further strengthening of macrofinancial stability. as a result, usd 2. 4 billion was added to the reserves by international partners ( the imf, the eu and the world bank ). the resulting amount of international reserves is the highest in five years, at usd 20. 8 billion. the last time we saw such figures was in the fall of 2013. the financial sector is showing good performance as well. the banking system is not only resilient, capitalized, and transparent, but also profitable – for the first time in five years. consumer confidence in the banking system is on the rise. hryvnia household deposits increased 15 % last year. banks are finally doing more lending, with hryvnia household loans up 31 % last year. in addition, we can currently talk about a certain recovery in corporate lending. our priorities in achieving these results were identified by the nbu ’ s medium - term strategy. approved and unveiled in the spring of 2018, the strategy identifies seven key goals of the nbu : 1. low and stable inflation. 2. stable, transparent, and effective banking system. 3. resumption of lending. 4. effective regulation of the financial sector. 5. free flow of capital. 6. financial inclusion. 7. modern, open, independent, and effective central bank. the nbu ’ s activities aimed at achieving these goals were what made possible the comforting highs and record - high figures of

by introducing tough capital controls. the exchange rate started to play the role of a nominal anchor for expectations, and went on to become the main instrument for curbing inflationary pressures and ensuring macro - financial stability in ukraine. 3 / 7 bis - central bankers'speeches the nbu also adjusted the operational design of its monetary policy, taking a set of crisis measures to mitigate risks to financial stability. specifically, the liquidity of the financial system was boosted significantly. due to the strong psychological pressure caused by the war, changing the key policy rate was unlikely to stabilize expectations and maintain control over inflation. from february through may 2022, the nbu postponed key policy rate decisions, keeping the rate at 10 %. in addition, in the earliest days of the war, the nbu deployed a wide range of measures to support financial institutions and borrowers, so as to stabilize the financial sector. moreover, to ensure the uninterrupted funding of critical public expenditures, the nbu has been supporting ukraine's state budget via purchasing government debt securities. so far, the nbu has purchased government bonds worth a total of uah 315 billion ( around $ 10 billion ). i expect that everyone in this room understands that this mix of a massive injection of liquidity via the budget and banking system, a fixed exchange rate supported by interventions and capital controls, and a freezing of the key interest rate helps the banks, businesses and households to adjust to the new reality in the short - term, but this mix is not sustainable in the long - term. that's why we started to adjust our policies. first, the nbu started to withdraw liquidity support measures for banks. second, at the beginning of june, the nbu raised the key policy rate considerably, to 25 %, to boost the attractiveness of assets priced in the national currency, and ease pressures in the foreign exchange market. then, as depreciation pressure remained too strong to withstand, in late - july the nbu made a one - time 25 % adjustment to the official exchange rate. relatively tight monetary conditions and this re - pegging of the exchange rate have helped weaken the pressure on ukraine's fx reserves. together with an acceleration of international aid inflows, this has allowed to maintain our reserves at a relatively comfortable level. all of these steps have helped us to avoid monetary destabilization so far. in september, inflation in ukraine stood at 24. 6 per cent. other countries have